Do kids take English in school anymore?

[MountCleaners]

193. It's always disheartening when your boss sends out an e-mail

...and it contains misspellings that shouldn't be committed by a professional with an advanced degree. Currently I work with psychologists who have graduate degrees from good programs and they lack fundamental knowledge and a collegiate command of English. I would be so ashamed if someone let me pass courses without the ability to communicate at a professional level.

I grew up working-class, my dad was a first-generation American and when you come from that immigrant background, you have it drilled into you that you have to "prove them wrong" about your people being illiterate. It's a matter of pride, but there was strong pressure from the whole family to achieve a high degree of competence. I can't imagine even feeling entitled to give others my opinion if I couldn't spell or write clearly. I worked my ass off to go to a good university, had perfect attendance in high school, and missed very few classes in college. I was disillusioned to find out that other people from -good- schools felt no such pride in their work and who make egregious errors that no one from respected university programs ought to make. It was then I learned that promotion in our culture favors people with connections and isn't a real meritocracy.

What's interesting to me is that there are stereotypes in our racist culture of POC and immigrants and their educations, but - I'm sorry to point this out - the ones who parade their poor English are most often white conservatives. I'm telling you, it's entitlement. When they post, they have no sense of pride or of doing right by your people - your family, your community. They don't think twice about making an argument even though it's barely legible. Proof that society promotes people because they're white and go to the "right" church or make the right social connections. There is no sense of shame.

That said, it's important to keep in mind that some people posting online do not have English as their first language. Then there is the automatic spell-checker on smart phones that often screws up words. I've had perfectly intelligent friends make dumb errors.

My favorite was when I was at a party with my cousin Stu and I texted "Stupid is here. He says hi!"

Then there are the texts that come out as filth when you meant something perfectly innocent. I swear to dog.