I agree with Dick Veit.  The first clause of the two clauses is like one of
those introductory elements that modify entire the entire main clause rather
than some word within it.  These introductory elements are usually phrases
-- "In my opinion," "To tell the truth" -- but in Ed's example, the first
clause works essentially the same way.

> ----------
> From:         Richard Veit
> Reply To:     Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> Sent:         Thursday, June 28, 2001 7:32 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: A comma-splice?
>
> At 05:43 AM 6/28/2001, Ed Vavra wrote:
>
>
>       It doesn't matter what we have in common, we will always have
> something to talk about.
>
>
> I disagree with those who say this needs to be punctuated as two separate
> sentences. A comma is standard practice (and can be found widely in print)
> for sentences like this where two clauses--despite absence of
> conjunction--are so obviously dependent on each other. You wouldn't find a
> comma in "No matter what you may have done, I still love you." The clauses
> in the sentence in question have the same relationship. Anyone is free to
> state that what they would like the standard practice to be in the real
> world, but our job is to describe English as it is, not how we might wish
> it to be. Most professional editors out there would have a comma between
> the clauses.
>
> Dick Veit
> University of North Carolina at Wilmington
>

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