He Said/She Said

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #4:

He Said/She Said

He said, “What’s an Oxford comma?”

She said, “I’m not going to try and explain it to you.”

He Googled it.

He said, “Yeah, good call. I have no idea what that’s talking about.”

A few days passed.

Daughter said, “What’s an Oxford comma?”

She said, “You know when you list three things in a sentence, like ‘Blue, red, and green?’ It’s the comma before the ‘and.’”

Daughter said, “Ooooh, okaaaaay.”

He said, “Wait a minute! You put a comma before the ‘and?’”

She said, “Yes! That’s the Oxford comma!”

He said, “I don’t do that!”

She said… nothing. Because even though she has always known this man is not a stellar speller nor a great grammarist, she didn’t know she was married to someone who intentionally does not use the Oxford comma. 

He said, “I’ve never put a comma before ‘and,’ but Microsoft has started suggesting it in my documents.”

She said, “Listen to Microsoft! Our marriage depends on it!”

Son said, “Mom, why are you acting like such a 5th grade teacher?”

She said, “I don’t know what you mean.”