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Things seem to be getting a little out of hand here in places. The topic was about grammar. Editors are not (just) about grammar. Grammar is not (just) about commas in the right places. The right grammar can aid a writer to achieve much of what people have been talking about here as if it were somehow separate - character development and pacing. Pacing relies quite heavily on grammar to make the story flow appropriately at different stages. The subtle use of grammar can help to make certain aspects of character appear in the text without having to spell them out.
Grammar really is important. It's an integral part of what a writer produces, it's part of the story and cannot be separated from it, the same sequence of words with different grammar can tell a different story - or were you too busy eating Grandpa to really understand the point of that example? It was never about the comma, it was about how the reader understood what was written. If you get the grammar wrong but your message is still clear, then sure, the grammar mistakes are not important. But, if you get the grammar wrong and your story goes astray, then these are technical errors for which you only have yourself to blame.
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