You and Me? or You and I?

My grandmother, Mimi, was an English teacher; grammar was taught by her in our home. It was so engrained in my everyday being that I can't help but secretly correct people. I do, however, attempt to keep the corrections to myself (unless, of course, it's my child or husband committing the infraction).

With the prevalance of social networking, grammatical mistakes are in plain view. Whether it be ignorance or deliberate attempts at sounding "social", people all over the internet commit my biggest pet peeve: whether to use "you and me" or "you and I" or, heaven forbid, "me and you".

English teachers will be quick to tell you the rules of sentence structure, but Mimi explained it much easier.

"Mason and I went on a walk in the woods."

"Mason and me went on a walk in the woods."

Which one is correct? Well, just drop Mason and read the sentence, "I went on a walk in the woods." It's that easy!

"A picture of Cassie and I at the football game."

"A picture of Cassie and me at the football game."

Again, drop Cassie and who is in the picture? That would be me! "A picture of me at the football game."

And so I offer this as a little public service. As with many things, ignorance is bliss, so unless you know these simple rules, you were probably never bothered by it! Hope I didn't shatter your glass...