Words mean things.

This is a favorite phrase of mine.  ‘Words mean things. Use the right word, at the right time, for the right reason.’

We’ve been having some word drama here at work: 

Earlier this week, I took down a sign in the women’s restroom that said ‘Please remove personal idems from shower area after you’re done’. I figured someone had made a mistake and they’d print a new one.

They did.

It said, ‘please remove personal idems from the shower area after you’re done. v/r, Staff Admin’.

So I took down the sign, circled ‘idems’ and said “I’ll remove my personal items when you use spell check’. And posted it back up.

Today, a new sign appeared. Complete with clip art.

‘Please remove personnel items from the shower area after you’re done’. And picture of a shower. Or a sun rising after a rain storm. Clip Art is kinda abstract like that. So I circled personnel and wrote ‘the word you’re looking for here is personal’. And posted it back up.