Megan has kind words for the bankrupted Times reporter:
This is the bravest thing I've read for a long, long time. For a reporter--an economic reporter--to admit that he's been in the hell of excess debt and unpaid bills that he reports on is a major statement in middle class America.Lemme guess, that statement is something along the lines of "it's his fault for purchasing what he couldn't have afforded?" or is it "the free market would have ensured that he made an educated decision. It is only regulation that causes problems!"
Oh, but she's sympathetic for some reason:
And so the debts creep up, one happy hour or Colorado backpacking adventure at a time.Or from purchasing a half million dollar home on an income of 40k a year. Six pack of one, pallet of the other. Let's have some appletini's! Drinks are on my trust fund!
Remember, though, being a writer living paycheck to paycheck is a noble pursuit of greatness. Poor people living paycheck to paycheck made really bad decisions for which they are paying.
BONUS FUN:
I don't mean to moan about how terribly hard it is to be a writer. Being a writer is great. It's the best job I've ever had,[sic] and it's only by a most unlikely chain of coincidences that I get to do it,[double sic] so I'm well aware of just how lucky I am.Which explains the non-stop bitching, haughty superiority, and disdain for anyone with whom she doesn't identify that has made a mistake. To be so enlightened! Also, she's a very good writer.
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6 comments:
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Not to nit-pick (that's Megan's job), but I think Megan's technically correct using the commas--no need to sic her there. The general rule is that you need to put a comma before a conjunction that separates two independent clauses. There are exceptions and I agree that Megan probably didn't absolutely need to use commas--after all her clarity, for what it is, doesn't suffer.
Much worse is this: "This is the bravest thing I've read for a long, long time." Megan, the word we use is "in," such as, "the bravest thing I've read in a long, long time." I agree with you that "brave" isn't quite the right word. Funny that Megan's so stupid she doesn't realize that this guy probably got a million dollar advance for his book--of which a portion is excerpted in this Sunday's Times Magazine, and it's already gotten a hell of a buzz. The fact that it might be a best seller escapes Megan completely. What an idiot. And she thinks she's a journalist.
Remember, successful people are people who worked harder and smarter.
I don't think you need commas the way she used them. The first time was before an "and" that separated two independent clauses. The second time was before a dependent clause following an independent clause, which is also wrong. Finally, she wrote a sentence with three clauses, which is just plain wrong.
Maybe there is some dispute over the first two points, but I've always seen it taught that way.
He rode his bike and sang. No comma.
Because he was happy, he sang. Comma.
He sang because he was happy. No comma.
Much worse is this: "This is the bravest thing I've read for a long, long time."Yes, because adding a second "long" accomplishes exactly nothing.
Innaresting: "for a long, long time" points to the future. "in a long, long time" points to the past.
You're going to regret what you did for a long, long time, because it's the worst thing I've heard about in a long, long time.
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