Under played and disrespected, the comma; a common grammatical tool used to separate words in our own English language, doesn’t get enough respect. To look at it, you wouldn’t think it is that important. It’s certainly not very attractive. It’s a squiggly, really. If it isn’t in the company of words, the comma kind of looks like a mini tear drop with scoliosis; a disease that afflicts people with moderate to severe curvature of the spine. The comma is not unique, though. Think about it, if you take a comma off the bottom of the line and you raise it to the top of the line’, it is a single quote or an apostrophe; hardly exclusive in it’s usage. But still under-rated in its importance. Let’s look at a simple quote from one of our founding fathers, Ben Franklin. Franklin relished his food, basked in the company of women, and at times used items of apparel to influence the way people perceived him. Gout plagued Franklin for much of his life. So he said this: "Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and cloth, or the Gout will seize you and plague you both." When I first read this I was lured to the words “eating” and “girls”. As you might imagine, at first, my eyebrows went up. But then, in the split second it sometimes takes to absorb the complete structure of a clever grouping of words, I saw that little squiggly resting there on the bottom of the line, separating the words proudly to reinforce that Mr. Franklin was, indeed, a lover of eating and of girls. He may have been interested in eating girls, but as a man of integrity, he was not willing to share that part of his life with us at the moment he wrote that quote.

Imagine for a moment, if you will, the importance that comma has. Our entire opinion of Mr. Ben Franklin could have been altered forever if it wasn’t for the comma. So, my friends, or foes, (who might find themselves reading this out of reluctance or some desire to find yet more faults in yours truly), be nice to the comma. Use it diligently and with purpose. Proof read your material to ensure that the comma falls in the right place, that your words are spelled correctly and your periods and spaces are in the right places because one, simple mistake could alter your meaning and be misinterpreted by the wrong people who, as a result might call you “sick,” or “immoral” insisting that you seek help from someone educated to achieve the respected title of “The rapist”. (Oops!)