I was particularly amused by this letter I received in my email this afternoon. It is a letter from to the Mayor of Belmar in response to a typographical error I pointed out on a bright orange sign.
Monday, 3 May 2004
Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle
Borough of Belmar
PO Box A
601 Main Street
Belmar, NJ 07719
Dear Mayor Pringle,
During a recent trip through the borough, my LiveJournal friend directed my attention to a roadway sign, detouring drivers to the Waterview Pavilion via a route untrammeled by the bridge construction project. The sign stands just beyond the intersection of 10th Avenue and Highway 35, on the northbound side of the road. The sign, I’m sure, serves its purpose well, as it is strategically located, highly visible, and easily understood. There is only one problem: “Pavilion” is spelled with two “l’s.” The spelling wouldn’t be as questionable if there wasn’t another sign right next to that one showing “Pavilion” spelled with only one “l.” I, myself, wasn’t sure what the correct spelling of the word was, but I trusted my LiveJournal friend when she said that there’s only one “l.”
Now, I’m aware of many of those punningly-devised store and product names, like “ShopRite,” “Stride Rite,” and “Piggly Wiggly” (whatever that means), so I wasn’t sure if the misspelling was intentional, or if “pavilion” is one of those English anomalies that can be spelled with either one “l” or two. “Buses” can be spelled with one “s” or two. “Truly” can be spelled with or without the “e.” Another thing: While we’re on the subject of English anomalies, why do we capitalize the first-person singular pronoun? The words “he” and “they” are not capitalized; why should “I” be?
But, anyhoo, back to the issue at hand: The Waterview Pavil(l)ion. If you could get an answer on that and get back to me, I’d greatly appreciate it.
Then, we can get on to disposing of more important matters, to wit: A per curiam ruling that, henceforth, everyone refer to himself as “i.”
i think the borough can handle that! 🙂
Good lord. I guess it’s good to know that the Marines are looking out for our best interest in all matters, big and small.
