For 36 years, I was a Teacher of English at Westlake High School in Thornwood, New York, from 1974 to 2010. I left teaching in 2010 because of aneurysm surgery serious enough to require retirement in order to protect the financial stability of my family. In the process of my career and later, I have assisted friends, students, teachers, and administrators with writing tasks ranging from education and nursing to business and even advertising copy, and, for years, I have heard variations on th...