The other day, a friend told me that he feels bad complaining to
me because I never complain.
And that’s not the first time I’ve heard that complaint from a
friend.
Of course, I do complain sometimes, but I have to admit that I am
one of those annoyingly optimistic people. I tend to believe that everything
works out, that everything happens for a reason, that we are lucky because
other people have it worse, blah blah blah. Basically, I’m like the least
satisfying person to vent to because I am always trying to make you see the
silver lining or help you fix the situation when all you really want to do is bitch.
Because of my annoying optimism, I tend to believe that everyone’s
problems are solvable. When someone tells me about a problem they are having,
my immediate reaction is to want to try to fix it. You hate your job; let me
search Monster.com all night and find you a new one. You’re unsatisfied with
your weight; I’ll wake up extra early and go running with you. You are having a
fight with your boyfriend; let’s all three sit down and talk about it. You’re having
problems in the bedroom; let’s have a threesome and I’ll give you feedback.
I KNOW that’s not healthy behavior; I know it’s called co-dependence.
If I were to include the following quote from my student’s essay in my own writing, this is how I would use sic:
“I use [sic] to have to wear my sisters [sic] hammy [sic] downs.”
Here’s another example using an email:
“i [sic] am in your english [sic] class on monday [sic].
I am attaching the HW [sic] due tomorrow. Hopefully you can except [sic] it
this way,[sic] if not i [sic] will also bring in a hard copy.”
You’d think I’d want to just fix their errors for them instead
of calling them out. But I don’t. Grammar is where I draw the line. I want to
shame my students into using proper grammar.
That’s healthier behavior, right?
