I’ve been on a weird sleep schedule the past few days. Because of this, I’ve seen a lot of late night television. Last night, though, I caught some of the reruns of Sex and the City on TBS. I never watched Sex and the City regularly, and I wasn’t beside myself when the movie came out. (In fact, I have yet to see it, and it doesn’t bother me.) But the cleaned-up versions on TBS are much better than the same episode of How Do I Look? and RonCo infomercials.
One of last night’s episodes was “Attack of the Five Foot Ten Woman.” Big and Natasha’s wedding announcement was in the newspaper. To make matters worse, Carrie ran into Natasha, her ex-boyfriend’s new wife, while shopping for a dress. As it turns out, Natasha is on the steering committee for a women in the arts luncheon — a luncheon Carrie is planning on attending. In the end, Natasha gets sick and can’t go, but she sends a thank you note to Carrie for attending the event. It’s short, maybe two sentences long, something along the lines of, “Thank you for coming. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.” Carrie reads the note and notices Natasha has used the wrong “there.” (She used the possessive “their” instead of the correct “there.”) She immediately picks up the phone and calls Miranda to share the news.
I think that’s the only time I’ve ever truly related to Sex and the City. Given my obsession with correct grammar, I think it should go without saying that I have laughed at many a disliked person’s ignorance when seeing the incorrect form of many words (you know, “your” versus “you’re,” “its” versus “it’s,” that sort of thing). I can’t explain why it makes me feel better to know I mastered the difference between simple words, but it does, especially when it’s someone I don’t like, especially when it’s someone who is clearly less intelligent than I am, especially when it’s my ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend.
I might not be the girl who can wear white (or any color) without spilling something on it, but I am the girl who is on committees and plans things and writes thank you notes. I’m the girl who has mastered the correct usage of words that are apparently very confusing. And somehow, that makes things better.
