Commas

During lunch, at the campus cafeteria, Mildred noticed the dirty tables, the overworked cashiers, and the exorbitant price for a watery soda.

• Should you remove the comma after lunch?

• Or should you remove the comma after cashiers?

Melissa couldn’t study for her comma quiz, because she was joy riding on the Enterprise with Mr. Spock, whom the US Air Force chased with its fastest jets.

• Should you remove the comma after quiz?

• Or should you remove the comma after Mr. Spock?

The slimy smelly lettuce on my burrito made me ask the manager to return my 99 cents.

• Should you add a comma after slimy?

• Or should you add a comma after burrito?

Sitting in the atrium, Marcus chatted pleasantly with a pretty student from his chemistry class, but then he had to leave suddenly, because he noticed that he had only thirty seconds to get to Professor Spottke’s English class on time.

• Should you remove the comma after atrium?

• Or should you remove the comma after suddenly?

To study for his calculus midterm, Brian drank seven cups of strong Turkish coffee which kept him wide awake for the all-nighter.

• Should you remove the comma after midterm?

• Or should you add a comma after coffee?

"Don't eat that pizza," warned Lisa. "It's over two weeks old ", she then explained.

• Should the comma after pizza follow the quotation marks?

• Or should the comma after old precede the quotation marks?

Fifteen uncooked popcorn kernels, and a few grains of salt littered the front of Robert's shirt as he slouched in the theater seat.

• Should you add a comma after fifteen?

• Or should you remove the comma after kernels?

Swinging at the fast ball, Bobbie heard, the satisfying crack of the home run that he had just hit.

• Should you remove the comma after ball?

• Or should you remove the comma after heard?

Karen wasn't sure if she needed a comma or not so she drew in a smudge that could pass for a comma or a stray pen mark.

• Should you add a comma after not?

• Or should you use a comma after comma?

Maricarmen bought a new dictionary so she could proofread for spelling errors on her next in-class essay.

• Should you add a comma after dictionary?

• Or should you add a comma after errors?