Don't think that was called for, Bill. I don't remember mentioning your name in my post, or anyone elses for that matter. This isn't an issue with the occasional misspelling or awkwardly worded phrase, or with the people that don't speak English as a native tongue. Truth is, this is mostly about laziness, and the people that it applies to will know who they are. Consistently poor spelling, no punctuation or paragraph breaks, texting short hand, all these things are inconsiderate and lazy IMO, especially in this age of built-in spelling and grammar checkers. Why should it be up to ME to try and decipher what came out of YOUR head? And what am I going to misinterpret because of a missing comma? And believe me, it CAN make a difference, I had quite a run in with a Seattle electrical inspector once because of a comma. If someone is so busy that they can't be bothered with the shift key and punctuation, why the hell are they wasting time posting on a forum? Trying to convey meaning and emotion without words and faces is tough enough, why abandon the one thing that helps fill in some of the gaps?
And for those that are thinking I'm some kind of college boy elitist, think again. I have no college degree, in fact, I don't even have a high school diploma. I dropped out at 16, joined the Navy at 17, had to take a GED before Uncle Sam would let me in. But I still managed to learn to communicate effectively, and I don't think it's too much to ask that others do the same. Of course, maybe the sci fi writers already figure it out, and we're heading the direction of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" or Henry Kutner's "Marching Morons". If so, I hope it holds off until after I'm out of here. Later.
Dave