“I try to avoid the passive”

A writer rethinks the remark:

“I was introduced to her while she was visiting California.” My helpful colleague asked: “Why the passive? What’s wrong with ‘We met …’?”—and the answer is: Nothing at all, except that it omits the very thing I was saying, namely that this was an actual old-fashioned introduction, not a random encounter in an airport bar. So I ignored that well-intended advice.

He goes on to say:

Do the writing tutors of the world really think we should not report that a politician has been shot until we can specify the gunman? Do they honestly think it’s wrong to say that the lights are left on all night in an office building without supplying a list of the individuals who controlled the switches? We really have to get over this superstitious horror about passives. It’s gone beyond a joke.

I will admit that it's perfectly acceptable to indulge in a little pedantry every so often, but I certainly wouldn't allow it to extend this far. At some point, the argument for maintaining clarity no longer seems to justify pedantic editing (exhibited rather well by the writer's copyeditor). Surely – in this case, particularly – the reader wouldn't know the difference.