Well, Actually… Stop Being an Asshole

It’s fun to laugh at this. We can all relate. But do you have to correct them? Do you get a high of proving to someone they might be wrong? Are they actually wrong or do they happen to have a different opinion from you? What compels you to correct somebody else, whether it’s on their grammar, punctuation, or spelling?

Stop being an asshole and learn to let some things slide.

This attitude is especially damaging at work. A culture that never accepts or allows someone to be “wrong” is unhealthy and harmful. Want to stifle someone from sharing their opinion for fear of being ripped-apart by the always preying eyes of the grammar-patrol? Correct them on their incorrect usage of fewer or less. Nag them about it. Make jokes about it in your chat room. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a passive-aggressive SlackBot you could choose to do it for you. Double-whammy!

Pedant? Want automated grammatical correction? The Slackbot responses (http://t.co/FBzS19I557) pictured below will do pic.twitter.com/Ej34F5dIUm

— Slack (@SlackHQ) September 16, 2014

Living and working in an environment like this, day in and day out, is exhausting, degrading, and detrimental to mental health. There’s a time and place for editing and correcting, but lighten up when it comes to the banter around the water cooler. Unless—that is—you prefer creating an organizational climate of negativity and pessimism.