Having said that, I'll tell you about a note I received from a sharp-eyed reader named Joan Levy. I was certain Joan Levy was wrong about my misspelling a word, because I run a spell-check program on this column before sending it to the paper. The paper then runs another spell-check program before it goes to press. It's virtually impossible for spelling errors to escape our notice. Errors of logic or judgment, maybe, or even good taste, but not spelling.
Spelling is one thing under control.
It's right there, etched, if not in stone, at least in cellulose. Just before the hot lead flew. I'm not going to lose sleep over spelling a word wrong in the paper, just as I wouldn't lose sleep if I stood before a crowd of people I wished to impress and gave a long speech, all the while with a big gob of spinach stuck to my front teeth. It's just something you prefer never to do, that's all. And if you do, you try to make sure you don't do it again.