Moments of My Ordinary
I’m not very particular. I don’t always pay close attention to detail and I’m often forgetful. Usually, I like to focus on the big picture rather than the little details— those little details could be figured out as I go along. I know this is a bad habit; I try not to let this part of me seep into my school and work life. If I’m being graded or getting paid, I’ll be paying very close attention to detail. But in my Creative Nonfiction class, my negligence showed—just for a glimpse.
It was a Wednesday morning. After the bell had rung and all of us students stopped our loud chatter, Mr. McDonald handed back Monday’s assignments. My eyes darted to the top of the paper. Four out of Five. My brow scrunched as I tried to understand what I got wrong. I knew that I had double checked for grammar, as that was my usual cause of point deductions. I quickly scanned the paper for pen marks that didn’t match the printed black ink.
Then I saw it.
The word peaked was crossed out and above it was written piqued in navy blue squiggly letters. I furrowed my brow even more. Wait, there’s really a difference? I thought. Apparently, yes. I then sat almost dumbfounded. For who knows how long, I have been writing “peaked my interest” with an e-a-k in countless papers, emails, and texts.
I thought back to the other papers I had submitted. I knew this wasn’t the only time that I had used that phrase. My mind swirled like a blizzard as I recalled the countless academic and creative papers that had the phrase crossed out in various colored pens. The strange, foreign editorial markings of my teachers finally made sense. Until then, I had never known what they meant by writing “ww” on my paper. I had always made a mental note to ask or to just Google it. But that usually slipped my mind as there were more important things to Google like “Can you still be successful without a degree?”
The pieces were all coming together, as was the blood rushing to my face. I was a bit embarrassed. I’m a writer, knowing the difference between certain words and how to use them properly was supposed to be my specialty—obviously it wasn’t. If only I had bothered to ask why I got this marked wrong; I could’ve spared the embarrassment of misspelling the word piqued in a senior-level writing class. But like most things I shrugged it off. Huh, that’s interesting, I thought to myself, leaning back in my chair and listening to the lecture. I made another mental note to only use peak when I am talking about a mountain. Maybe this time it would stick.
