Oh god, not another post...

Oh hush, I know few people are reading this and I'm doing what I've wanted... finding cool stuff online and posting them.

I came across a link to a New York Times article written in 2004 regarding poor writing skills used in formal business emails. I definitely agree with a few of the statements in there that relate to people not using correct grammar or punctuation when sending messages to clients or even potential employers. I know my grammar isn't perfect, but I try to remove as many short cuts from my writing as possible. Call me old fashioned or whatnot, but I think a certain amount of professionalism should be maintained. It boggles my mind sometimes to see how many people seem to not even care how their writing is viewed by others.

I have heard stories from my friends about their parents and coworkers who would throw out applications for poor grammar. Now, the points they were making is valid: if you want to be taken seriously, then behave as such. The "mistakes", however, were specifically going by common usage which many people would not even know are incorrect. One example that stuck out in my mind was throwing out an application that told the reader "please contact me if you have any further questions" or something of that sort. Apparently this is improper usage of contact and looking up the definition this is true. You can be "in contact with" someone but you cannot "contact them". I'm not about to turn into a grammar nazi or anything like that but it strikes me how common phrases are technically incorrect and give someone with a different upbringing a much different opinion of the writer.