Get rid of the comma

Times change. Language changes. It's a hard thing to watch. Personally, I think it's related to the decline of civilization. But I guess people always say that as they get older.

One comma so far.

I like to stick commas in things. I like to stick parenthetical expressions in things -- it adds depth and texture to the text. Since I started blogging I do a lot more with dashes and parentheses in addition to offsetting phrases with commas. I think the three styles offer three levels of emphasis: dashes are more emphatic than commas, and parentheses less emphatic. Texture in the text.

Two commas so far.

But times change and people have largely eliminated commas from their thinking. I don't know how that works or where it came from. But you have to cooperate with people if you want them to read your stuff. See, I want to put a comma after "But times change" and another one after "how that works" and another one right here, but I won't do it.

Oops.

Still, it might have been more effective if those last five words were a separate sentence. But I won't do it.