Importance of Writing

I was surfing Craigslist yesterday for pet training classes. I didn't find any but I did start reading other people's posts. People trying to find good homes for pets, handymen wanting odd jobs around the house, people offering lessons in a variety of stuff.

It amazed me to see how BADLY some people write. Here are a few examples in their entirety:

learn to braid hair.
learn to braid , corn roll, godess braiding, french braidnig ,extences braid,
microw braiding, twist, weaving, dred locks ,

i got an adult ball python she is about 900 grams nice snake there is a fee

he is about 4 months old born on may 3,2008. he is a a very happy puppy with losts of energy. he is crate trained! i think he is better with children over the age of 6 but he is with little children now and dogs and cats (he likes to chasee!) there is a rehomeing fee of $150 so i know he is going to someone who will love him!!!! he is still small i dont think he will get any bigger - 15 inches off the ground right now. he has the pit hair and face he is a really cool, friendly dog!!!

Okay WOW. Reading these, do you want to do business with these people? Spelling mistakes, no grammar, no punctuation. It's a mess. Before you blame the education system, how about some personal responsibility for using spell check? How about some personal responsibility for making sure you don't sound like an idiot when you write? Writing is a form of communication and can say a lot about you as a person. Imagine you were a boss and employed someone who wrote emails like this. Emails without punctuation, no capital letters, and with a lot of exclamation points. I'd be embarrassed and take their keyboard away.

Every time, every single time you communicate through the written word, it has to be to the best of your ability. I don't care if it's a blog, an email to friends, IM, texting, or a college lab report. Written (or typed) forms of communication are permanent. You can't take it back. You have one shot to make sure you are clear and understood. Don't waste it.