Has our grammar went missing?

I was blessed by being born into a family who used reasonably correct English. In school I didn't have to unlearn poor usage. I just grew up with good usage. There were a few glaring exceptions. I still have trouble with saying "Lester and me" when we are the objects of a verb. An example is my tendency to say, "They invited Lester and I over for supper." I don't worry about it too much as long as we get to eat.

When I got old enough to study the rules of grammar I thought that once I learned the rules I was set for life. Now that I am writing somewhat professionally I realize that isn't the case at all. I had to learn several new things, especially in punctuation.

I always was taught that when you were typing, you should double space after a period at the end of a sentence. Now a publisher will reject a manuscript for that reason. One space is the correct rule today. I guess this is an example of our hurry-up, crowded world. We have to cram as much as possible into each little space.

Quotation marks still cause me problems. Do we put the periods and commas inside the quotes or outside? I am sure you can check previous columns or articles of mine and find them used incorrectly. But I consulted an expert just now and the rule is as follows. "The quotation marks always come after the commas or periods." That is true even for quotations within a quotation.

Now that we have that settled I will get to what has been bugging me for several years. When did the verb "went" take the center stage? In newspaper reports we read about a child that "went missing" two days ago. I have even heard it on national newscasts. Maybe this is one of the new rules that I have missed hearing about. I'll admit that the message is clear and that is the purpose of good grammar. But it still jolts me a little each time I hear or see it used that way.

The spell and grammar check on my computer evidently wasn't reared in a home where good English was spoken, or spelled. Invariably when I use the word, "their," showing possession, the spell check will flag me to say it should be "there." (Now, is this one of the places where the quote mark should be after the period? It looks odd, doesn't it? I can't afford another long distance call to my expert to check this out, so I will follow the rule, which does say "always.") My computer also wants me to use more commas than I usually use. Sometimes I humor it a bit by putting some more in where they tell me to. Usually, however, I stick to my original thought and let the sentence go comma-less.

(I bet I'll get flagged for that word too!) I would wager that many of you were taught to never end the sentence with a preposition. I think that rule was disproved. That is a change I heartily approve of.

I notice many people forgetting to put the second 'o' on 'too' and many do not know when "you're" is correct instead of "your." I will end this essay before it gets too long and your sick and tired of hearing about the rules I grew up with before everything I knew about grammar went missing and I feel like "a fish out of water." I'll just keep floundering around like the experts expect me to.