What???? "He runned to the store" is wrong? Just kidding. Excellent post.
Here in my new locale, "He had ran to the store" is popular. I think it's called "urban ultra correct," mixing a past perfect helper with a simple past verb. They also like "She had drank the Pepsi" and "They had swam in the surf." Makes my eyes itch when I see it.
Again, you are so right in trying to calm the hostility to language varieties. As an English teacher, I'm used asking frustrated students to holster their guns and realize millions of people, most of whom are long dead, make the grammar . . . teachers just try to explain it.
In your case, translate it.
