Sticks and Stones

"I hear that it was you who died alone
And I offer no sympathy for that
Better off I sparkle on my own"

 

I'm a copy editor. Which means, aside from the inherent dorkiness and obsession with grammar, I know words are important.

 

It means I spend my days subtly changing reporters' words to make their articles as clear as possible and so as to avoid unintentional bias. It means I'll stop in the middle of an article about a man who beat his stepdaughter to death (manslaughter, not murder, the jury said) to wonder how "till" instead of "until" got into the Newspaper of Record. It means I think this column about how Obama's speech on race was ridiculous--because we shouldn't be talking about race because talking about things is useless--is ridiculous.

 

It means that when somebody lobs hurtful accusations at me, they, well, hurt. A lot.