1. Johnny put down the fork, picked up the spoon, and proceeded to eat his soup.
2. Johnny put down the fork, picked up the spoon and proceeded to eat his soup.
2. Johnny put down the fork, picked up the spoon and proceeded to eat his soup.
Which are you partial to?
The first example uses a serial comma after the word "spoon". However I don't see much of it anymore these days. Perhaps only in situations like this where the last item contains the word "and" within itself:
3. Johnny piled his plate high with biscuits, coleslaw, and macaroni and cheese.
Is one use more correct than the other? Is literature trending away from serial comma use entirely? This certainly seems to be the case in journalism. Thoughts...?