A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Washington, D.C with a group of FFA members. We had the chance to look at some of the most spectacular memorials to help us understand America’s history. Because I believe that we should learn from our past to prepare for our future, I listened intently to our tour guide. A few memorials the tour guide showed us were the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and even the Lincoln Memorial.
One fact I still remember our tour guide telling us on the memorial tour had nothing to do with history. Instead, it relates more to our editing class. Did you know the word “future” used in Lincoln’s second inaugural address is actually misspelled on the concrete wall of his memorial? Instead of “future”, the wall reads “euture.” That’s right, the walls surrounding the 19 foot tall monument has a typo. Mistakes happen.
My point is that no matter how skilled of editors we can become, there can be errors. We should eliminate as many errors as possible, but remember that we are human as well. At times I find myself frustrated when I finish a project, and then find an error. I guess it happens to everyone everywhere, even on a memorial that reminds us of the 16th United States President.
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I had no idea about the misspelling on Lincoln's memorial! I will definitely have to check it out next time I am in D.C. I also agree with your point about how errors happen. We must try to avoid them at all costs, but we are human and messing up is just a part of life.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of last year, when the Chicago Cubs put up a statue of Ernie Banks. His famous saying was "Let's play two!" but when they put the statue up, there was no apostrophe. It embarrassingly read "Lets play two" for its big unveiling. Most people did not notice, but sure enough a piece ran in the Trib the next day pointing it out and explaining it would be fixed. I can see that kind of mistake happening, but "euture"? That's funny in a sad way, but it does make me feel a little better about the lame mistakes that I make. Wonder what Lincoln would say :)
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