The Serial Comma

There is a debate raging in the punctuation world about what is referred to as the serial comma. It's also called the Harvard comma, or the Oxford comma. Every time you list things in a sentence, you choose one side or the other in this punctuation war.

Kitchen Lion returns!

This is a sentence with the serial comma:
The lion destroyed the table, the chairs, and the floor.

This is the same sentence without the serial comma:
The lion destroyed the table, the chairs and the floor.

You see? The comma after "chairs" is the serial comma. It comes between the last two items in a list.

I am firmly planted on the pro-serial-comma side of the argument, because I feel like it makes more sense.

In my humble opinion, some lists feel rushed at the end if there is no serial comma. In my head, I read that example sentence up there as:
The lion destroyed the table, the chairs AND THE FLOOR! Don't forget the floor! You were going to interrupt me after I said chairs but I managed to mention the floor!

Other sentences are more difficult to comprehend if you omit the serial comma. One way this happens is by combining the last two items into one item. This viral comic sums up this problem pretty well:

If you have issues seeing or reading the image, I'll summarize:

I had eggs, toast, and orange juice. This identifies the three items you had.

I had eggs, toast and orange juice. This looks like the toast and orange juice were combined as one item, which is pretty unappealing.

Another comprehension problem enters more often when using names. It can sound like you're addressing the last two people listed, instead of including them in the list. For example:

The lion ate the breakfasts of Alex, Beth and Chris.

This sentence can either be saying that three breakfasts were eaten (that of Alex, that of Beth, and that of Chris) or it could be addressing Beth and Chris, telling them that Alex's breakfasts were eaten. Because Alex habitually eats multiple breakfasts, for some unidentified reason. (I recognize that I did a weird thing with the possessive here, but it's because I'm trying to make a point.)

It can also resolve the issue of making it sound like the second and third items are naming the first item. Confused? Look at my example:

The lion ate the cats, Beth and Chris.

In this sentence, we have three options. The lion ate multiple cats, as well as Beth and Chris. Or perhaps the cats were named Beth and Chris. Or, like in the last example, I'm informing Beth and Chris of the unfortunate situation in which the lion ate the cats. The most likely option is the first, and to make the meaning more apparent, you can use a serial comma:

The lion ate the cats, Beth, and Chris.

Sometimes the serial comma can't even help you, though. Consider the following:

The kitchen contains a lion, a Capricorn, and an accountant.

Is the lion the Capricorn, and you're telling us that the lion (who is, by the way, a Capricorn) and an accountant are in the kitchen? Or are you listing three separate items: first, a lion; also, a Capricorn; and finally, the accountant? If you omit the serial comma, you have:

The kitchen contains a lion, a Capricorn and an accountant.

That sounds more like the lion is both a Capricorn and an accountant, and you are only identifying one kitchen occupant: the lion. (Who happens to be the other two things listed.)

Don't be absurd... Lions are terrible at math.

Still... I don't understand the hatred toward the serial comma. It's just trying to help. It wants you to understand!