These days there is something to celebrate every month. Every single month there are things like “No Socks Day,” “Lumpy Rug Day” and “National Pack Rat Day.” Some are ludicrous, like these, but sometimes they are to show appreciation, such as “Nurses’ Day” or “Police Day.” 

It seems like there’s a day for everything except one. I decided recently they need a day of their own. 

We need a National Tough English Teachers’ Day. This is different from the regular “Teacher Appreciation Day.” This is for those tough English teachers who marked you down for such heinous crimes as not using a comma in the right place. At the time it seemed very stupid. But I have changed my thinking about that. 

It came about when I was looking through Craigslist and as usual was appalled at how rotten people spell nowadays. Someone spelled ‘accessories’ like this: accerraries. An ad for a motorcycle claimed it had new “breaks.” A car ad boasted that it had been “well taken car of.”

Even worse, here is an actual example for a pickup that was for sale: Local pickup is perfect, ship is find but it in your own cost.

It’s enough to make an English teacher crazy. It’s enough to make a regular person who had an English teacher crazy. It’s enough to make you love your English teacher enough to give them their own national month of recognition.

I propose that May become National Tough English Teacher Appreciation Month. When you’re in school, knowing where to put a comma doesn’t seem like a big deal. Knowing whether to use “two, to, or too,” doesn’t seem like it will make a difference in your life. Knowing how to put together a decent sentence doesn’t seem nearly as important as knowing how to play basketball. But those things are important. 

Knowing how to communicate with words has become a real skill. And when you look around a little, it’s skill that’s becoming hard to find.

To Mrs. Lindblad, Mr. Zscheile, Mrs. Hilyard, Miss Fredrickson, and all you other tough English teachers out there: Thanks. I am glad you were tough. Thanks for teaching us to use a dang apostrophe. The world is a better place because of you. And if you don’t believe it, just look on Craigslist.

On second thought, don’t look. It’s too scary.