So, I found myself at a temporary page in the Minsitry of Education’s website.

Did you catch that typo?

Let me emphasize…the Ministry of Education‘s website.

<sigh>Boggles the mind really.

Although I can’t say I’m truly surprised, considering some of the notices I’ve received from the school. Just in recent memory, one referenced a completely different school than the one my offspring were attending; and in another one the notice ended with <Insert Name of child here>, just to give me that personalized touch. They might teach a lot of things at school, but proofreading apparently is not one of them. Or it’s taught but never practiced, thus proving that the things they teach you in school you never use in real life — even when you should.

It put me in mind of the best typo I ever encountered.

First, let me say right off, I am not holding myself up as a Grammar Queen, even though I have been accused of having Random Correction Syndrome (RCS, it’s a sickness) and have once or maybe twice told people that ‘orientated’ is not a word. But I also am someone who recently spelled ‘water’ as ‘walter’ on a trade show brochure, so I grudgingly recognize I am not impervious to the occasional typo gaffe.

That doesn’t make the story any less funny.

So, many years ago I was starting a new job, taking over from another human resources professional. This HRP had recently done a SWOT analysis of The Company, although she thought it was spelled SWAT. So, rather than looking at the company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, had substituted “Assets’ for ‘Opportunties.’ I’m not sure why no one corrected this HRP, but it just goes to show that often no one actually pays attention to the important work of strategically managing a company. That may be a clue as to why it usually fails to improve things.

So, this HRP in a classic HR move determined that the most important assets of The Company were Its People. She sent out a document attached to an email saying just that.

Except she left the ‘T’ out of ‘Assets”

That’s right.

“The Company’s best asses are its people.”

Proofreading: FAIL

These are the times when spell-check can’t help you.

Any horrifying typos you’ve made or encountered? Feel free to post anonymously. Or correct my grammer. Let your RCS run free.