Grammar rant for the day - Correct use of personal pronouns

"They gave my friend and I a gift." WRONGWRONGWRONGWRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good way to test:
Break the sentence up, for example:
"They gave my friend a gift, and they gave... what? They gave I a gift?"

People PUHLEEZE!

Correct usage is "my friend and ME".
"They gave my friend a gift, and they gave me a gift. "

"Me" is used when it is the object of the sentence, "I" when it is the subject.

"I went to the party", "My friend and I went to the party" gives us "My friend and I went to the party"
"They gave my friend a gift, and they gave me a gift. " gives us "They gave my friend and me a gift"

I heard not one correct use of this for the ENTIRE WEEKEND. Then I came on G+ this morning and the first post I read had "my wife and I" as the object. I just got really really pissed.

Do people not learn English Grammar anymore in school? Or is it that so many people use this incorrectly that it's being seen as correct?
I know English is a living language and changes, but I think the difference between subject and object in a sentence is one of the fundamentals of comprehension. This should be used correctly.

END RANT. :)
If you want to check it out yourself, here's a link from the OED online.