Spelling reform

I love that America is full of passionate people willing to take a stand, donate money, and volunteer time for things they believe in. I don’t always identify with another’s cause, but that’s generally ok. Then again, there are certain causes that I think are just downright stupid and a waste of time. Case in point? These people who protested outside of last week’s National Spelling Bee to call for the adoption of phonetic spelling because, basically, they think regular English spelling is too difficult.

Now, I write for a living, so you’d think I’d be against this cause because of my devotion to the English language. But the truth is, I’m a terrible speller. In fact, had I worked in corporate communications 30 years ago and had only a typewriter to work with, I would have been in serious trouble. Spell check is a godsend for me. (On the other hand, my co-blogger was once a top speller in her elementary school back in the day.) Nevertheless, can we all agree there are more important and sensible things to fight for? We’re not asking people to read Chinese here. If you want to fight for better literacy, I imagine there are better ways than this silly phonetic spelling campaign.

And c’mon, isn’t there enough edge-of-your-seat drama at the National Spelling Bee as it is? Remember this girl? Keep on spellin’ crazy kids!