the dash

You know what drives me crazy?!

I live in Winston-Salem. The dash signifies the historical merging of two cities, one ruled by Moravians in reenactment costumes and the other by wealthy chain smoking members of the Reynolds family. These two cities peacefully coexist as one and have been working hard to do so for quite some time. Until the mapquest guys came along.

Of their own accord, the mapquest guys decided that Winston-Salem is not a real city. To them, the dash is insignificant. Why not make it easier and just leave the dash out they say? Why because that dash is so important that young adults in town affectionately leave out the actual city names and just call the town "the dash". We're so in awe of this blending of two worlds, that we have used this moniker to represent a movement among young professionals to get involved and revitalize the city. The dash means something to us.

It was bad enough when mapquest dropped the dash, but now online ordering services are doing it to. I've recently received several error messages, yes the several does indicate my increasing fondness for online shopping, telling me that I need to use a valid street address or phone number. After several proof reads, I finally omit the dash and alas, my order goes through. It's making me crazy.

Curse you mapquest for taking away our history and all of you online companies for following suit. Long live the dash!

author's note: in case you can't sense my ironic tone, I'm really just pissed because when I fill out these forms, I know that I'm not the one who is crazy, they are! The dash really does exist.