Wednesday, December 07, 2005

We am?

A rule in journalism is that you use first person plural, as in "we". Which sometimes can get confusing. The New Yorker magazine seemed to have carried this to the extreme, such as in their ramblings about the goings ons in the town, they might say something similar to "as we were getting a haircut the other day...." or "As we entered the men's restroom the other day we noticed...." I imagined a group of men, all squeezing in the men's restroom and in unionson they all noticed the same thing at the same time.

The other day on the local TV newscast the TV station was sponsoring a can-a-thon to feed the poor during the holidays. Several of the news show personalities were at a plush shopping center to push the can drive. The weatherman, an anchor man, and an anchor lady were there with sacks in their hands saying just drive by and drop some cans off, they will be happy to unload your car. The anchor man is a new man at the station. He said, "This is a very nice shopping center, we have never been here before." The anchor lady, also going by the "we" rule, agreed, it was nice and added, "We have been coming here for six years now."
So, which is it? Y'all are here for the first time or have y'all being going there for six years now?

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