THE GRAMMAR NAZIS HAVE ARRIVED!

So, I'm at work this morning, and listening to the radio. One of the two hosts is talking about a waitress correcting his grammar at a restaurant, and apparently this upset him so much that he left a crappy tip. He felt bad about it and intends to rectify his mistake, but...

He wasn't actually wrong. Nobody appears to have pointed it out, he himself didn't seem to realize it, but from a grammatical and contextual viewpoint, I believe that he was correct. The conversation apparently went as follows;

Radio Host: Can I have a diet coke, please?

Waitress: Yes, you may have a diet coke.

The emphasis is not mine. Now, the difference between 'can' and 'may' is often neglected these days, as they are virtually interchangeable and only people who actually care about grammar make the distinction. They usually try to drill it into everyone around them in an incredibly condescending manner.

Now, the key here is this; Can he have a diet coke? We don't know. Do they carry Pepsi instead of Coke? Do they have diet drinks? The use of can in this instance appears to be completely correct. May would also have worked, contextually, but what he said was in no way incorrect. The sentence implies 'Do you have diet Coke?' although contextually that phrase is probably concluded with 'and if so, may I have some?'

So, let that be a lesson to all of the would-be Grammar Nazis out there. Before you correct someone, please make sure that you're right.

To everyone else- sorry that this is probably only of interest to me.

Signing off!
-Mei

TURKEY DAY

So, as coincidences go, I've had a pretty epic run of bad luck... Stolen ID, issues with banks, employment, etc...
But let's focus on the slightly less depressing stuff, shall we?
The University's Minions are currently tormenting me with trials of various sorts (aka, group work and midterms). Despite this, I have managed thus far to survive and even (sortof) keep up, which is always good, except for the whole 'blogging' thing...

The title of this post, of course, refers to Thanksgiving, colloquially known as 'turkey day' in my circle of friends. I cooked dinner, including, of course, a turkey, and let me tell you- it was epic. I'd never done it before, and by some miracle or crazy happenstance, not only was everything edible, it was all hot, on the table, only 20 minutes after my predicted start time.
I'm amazed at this particular bit of good luck, especially as I've been having such a run of bad luck lately. I'm even more amazed that it somehow came about despite my complete failure to plan. I just started cooking around 1 o'clock and miraculously, somehow, it came together.
So that's my random quota for this week, unless I'm due for more bad luck soon. *sigh*

On a random note, I have a sneaking suspicion that in the future, I am a blackberry addict.

A CRUSHING DEFEAT

Today, I was doubly foiled by my archnemisis; The University.
Someday, it will burn.
That is all.

A SMALL DOSE OF BACKSTORY

A little history seems to be in order. My profile rather succinctly summarizes me, but there are a few details that I should mention; I'm graduating from university in less than a year, if all goes well; and I'm supposed to be planning a wedding, which is apparently an incredibly trying time for the relationship in question.
My betrothed, whom I will affectionately refer to as The Pyro, is in the same place in his education. So in addition to trying to scrape up the cash for a wedding, plan it and book the various necessities, we will also be trying frantically not to fail any of our final-year classes.
I also work, full-time. The Pyro works part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer. This sounds like a recipe for madness.
But, it also gives birth to many a random coincidence that will, perhaps, keep us both amused and hopeful.
This blog came into being as a record for these anecdotes; 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' is well known on the interweb, and that is where my title comes from. There is a particular scene involving frozen yogurt during which the words 'What a crazy random happenstance!' are uttered. The scene in question is not, in fact, happenstance, but rather completely contrived. However, there have been numerous occasions during which this phrase has been very applicable.
May there be many more.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

So, there's this saying- 'speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear.' I'm sure it's been heard many a time, but never, before yesterday, had I truly experienced this phenomenon.

My co-worker, whom I hearby dub Audrey (after her favorite celeb Audrey Hepburn), was discussing our inevitable return to the hallowed halls of The University. I commented on the fact that I knew the names and faces of many classmates who probably had no idea I existed, due to my aversion to speaking up in class. As an example, I held up Pixie (so named for her adorable haircut), who has been in at least six of my classes, beginning in my second year. Pixie was quite outspoken, which was nice as she tended to vocalize the questions that many of us had, and which also meant that pretty much everyone knew her name. I was fairly certain that she had no idea who I was.

Minutes later, who should walk into the store but Pixie herself! I greeted her and she squinted at me somewhat suspiciously.

"You look incredibly familiar," she said
"Yeah, I'm in most of your english classes, Pixie." I replied.
"Oh! Cool, what's your name?"
"Jinx,"
"Ah, that's neat! Well, I work as a waitress so you could have been anyone."
"Yeah, I know the feeling,"

We continued to chat inanely for another minute and then she left, saying she would see me in school. Right as she left, Audrey leaned over and whispered "Well, now she knows your name!"