I walked unsuspectingly inside the elevator. Three smiling men were talking and obvious friends. Another woman and I figured out whether the floor we needed was lit up on the number pad, then the doors closed. Right away, one man turned to us and said, You two are ladies, then turned to his friends and said, I bet they'd know.
I thought to myself, What could these perfect strangers need to know from me?
These guys then proceeded to explain how they had been arguing over grammar--more specifically whether or not it is proper to say Me and Steve went somewhere or if it is better to say Steve and I... My next thought was Do I have some grammar sticker across my forehead or what??? And my very next thought was Wow, I never knew men talked about grammar outside of school? What I said out loud (once the other woman said she believed the second choice was correct) was that Steve and I is the absolute correct way to say it. Then the questions started flying. The one who was right appeared quite satisfied but had more questions, and the other two actually attempted to continue arguing after my definitive reply. I most decidedly shut them down. I mentioned my English Teaching major status and how I just know. They piped down, asking hows and whys, so I gave a short elevator version of usage differences in subjects and predicates, as well as a mini {elevator} lesson on the difference between Grammar A and Grammar B. Then, as the elevator door opened I summed things up, leaving them open-mouthed and stunned by my mad grammar skills.
Mind you--this occurred in the space of three minutes or less. I can hardly fathom how fast I must have been speaking. It was probably some world record or something. Insanity.
My deepest gratitude goes out to my mother for ingraining the basics into me from a young and tender age as well as to my Grammar Teaching instructor, Dr. Deborah Dean, who taught me all I know about how to teach grammar to others. Without their lessons, mad skills would have been mediocre guessing.
I thought to myself, What could these perfect strangers need to know from me?
These guys then proceeded to explain how they had been arguing over grammar--more specifically whether or not it is proper to say Me and Steve went somewhere or if it is better to say Steve and I... My next thought was Do I have some grammar sticker across my forehead or what??? And my very next thought was Wow, I never knew men talked about grammar outside of school? What I said out loud (once the other woman said she believed the second choice was correct) was that Steve and I is the absolute correct way to say it. Then the questions started flying. The one who was right appeared quite satisfied but had more questions, and the other two actually attempted to continue arguing after my definitive reply. I most decidedly shut them down. I mentioned my English Teaching major status and how I just know. They piped down, asking hows and whys, so I gave a short elevator version of usage differences in subjects and predicates, as well as a mini {elevator} lesson on the difference between Grammar A and Grammar B. Then, as the elevator door opened I summed things up, leaving them open-mouthed and stunned by my mad grammar skills.
Mind you--this occurred in the space of three minutes or less. I can hardly fathom how fast I must have been speaking. It was probably some world record or something. Insanity.
My deepest gratitude goes out to my mother for ingraining the basics into me from a young and tender age as well as to my Grammar Teaching instructor, Dr. Deborah Dean, who taught me all I know about how to teach grammar to others. Without their lessons, mad skills would have been mediocre guessing.
That is the greatest random question from a stranger ever
ReplyDeleteI was astonished and amazed.
DeleteI love this! I LOVE that you told them about Grammar A and B. That is just delightful.
ReplyDeleteOne time, my mom and dad were trying to remember what onomatopoeia was, and the phone rang in the middle of their conversation. My mom picked up and asked the stranger on the other line, "What's onomatopoeia?" The stranger promptly responded, "I believe it's a word that sounds like itself, like bang, or pop."
My mom said thank you and hung up. He never called back, and this was the days before caller ID, so she never knew who it was!
Love your story too. I won't forget what onomatopoeia is ever. Grammar nerds unite!!! :)
DeleteIf I didn't live in Korea, where finding strangers speaking English (let alone discussing grammar) would be an absolutely rarity, I would wish with all my heart that this very scenario would happen to me. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite surreal, even with being in a non-rare English speaking area. The entire situation demanded I write about it.
DeleteSo funny! The pleasures of proper grammar... *sigh*
ReplyDeleteA fun story and interesting story. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFunny! So random :)
ReplyDelete