Feeling Intellectually Snobbish

I guess one should be grateful about Plebs trying to write in English. People say it’s the effort or the thought that counts, and not the result – they say it when someone loses a competition or gives a lousy present, so I guess, seeing people whose written English is just so terrible, trying to make an effort, should give one a bit of hope right? At least they are TRYING to write.

And yet, the conjugation of the verbs, not to mention the turn of sentences, or lack thereof really, are so bad – that I end up wondering. Wouldn’t it be better to just resign yourself to the fact that your English is terrible and that you are just not capable of writing, in English at least, instead of pushing yourself, and others, to suffer through that horrifying syntax? It’s torture really, especially when you’re a voracious reader tenderly minding your own business, and suddenly there it is. Like a freezing squall surprising you out of nowhere. Like a sudden punch in the face. Those bloody sentences which go nowhere, the lack of auxiliary verbs, the mixing of the past and present tense. And don’t let me start about the vocabulary. Ugh.

Yes, I’m kind of a language Puritan. What can I say? Would the term ‘Grammar Nazi’ fit? Perfectly I’d imagine. Oh yes, I make mistakes, especially when I’m typing using some itty-bitty mobile keypad, or when I’m distracted. But making a typing error in a status or a hurried comment is one thing, while actually publishing a whole article without even bothering to edit the bloody thing, is something totally different

For Pete’s sake, one can even do that with the auto-correct function these days!

Ugh, yes rant over.

And THIS is why I hardly ever read local amateurish stuff.

PLEBS

 

Personal Information

Something about me – I graduated four times, I have a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English, a Post-graduate degree in Education, a Post graduate degree in Interpreting, and a Masters in Contemporary English Literature and Criticism.

That being said, apart from writing free-lance, my full-time permanent job has nothing to do with my passion for books at all.

I am a Data Protection Analyst, more simply put – a Senior Principal Officer.

My job is interesting in that it offers different opportunities to appreciate not only the importance of freedom, but also shows up how dearly bought this is, especially within a society which struggles everyday to be fair and just, while at the same time cater for individuals’ greed and ignorance. To cap it all off, like many other countries, Malta is mired up in bureaucracy and slow-moving structures, which it changes at the pace of a snail. In other words, we try to fit in with the rest of the European Union, while at the same time embracing mentalities pertaining to 50 years ago (if not more).

My time is mostly spent giving other employees awareness – that is, training people who are not really interested and who would rather be somewhere else, and trying to explain to them that giving someone’s personal data to all and sundry is WRONG. Apart from that, I also investigate other departments and ministries and write Audit Reports illustrating where and how they are breaching the Data Protection Act…

Sounds boring? It kind of was at first, I admit, but after a couple of years, I’m starting to be interested… I wonder if that should make me happy, or afraid… hmm…