Wacko With a Ph.D.

I wrote an article quoting N.J. shippers as claiming that Southern shippers were trying to “steal our lunch,” to take our business away. So I jocularly referred to these Southerners as “crackers.”

A female copyeditor complained that this term was insulting—and actually succeeded in getting it taken out of my article! (The managing editor is always easy for other people to manipulate.) The copyeditor also managed to butcher the rest of my article. She has a reputation for editorial butchery. “Cracker” is a word Southerners often use to describe other Southerners. It’s about as insulting as “Yankee.”

This copyeditor is a woman desperate for attention. She has a Ph.D. from Seton Hall, where she teaches. In teaching English, she has the students study comic books—as a notable example of genre writing! Wacky. (How about English gothic literature of the 18th century instead? Now you have a clue as to why Seton Hall has such a deservedly lousy reputation.

The wacko with the Ph.D. recently objected to a perfectly unobjectionable article I wrote about two women who were seeking financial guidance. Why? Obviously, she’s still desperate for attention.