Poor Grammar

If there is one thing that upsets me about American society today, it's how poor we have become in regards to our own written and spoken language. There is one word that is constantly spelled incorrectly and can alter the entire meaning of a particular sentence or paragraph. Of course the reader can distinguish the correct version based on reading experience, but the writer needs to be held accountable for not knowing their own language.

The words that I'm specifically talking about are "your" and "you're". If you don't understand what each word means and what context it is used, I suggest you start reading more. I see it all of the time in text messages, emails, blogs, etc. A recent study on CNN stated that incorrect spellings and grammar in text messages, emails, and on blogs doesn't not transpose or reflect a person's actual ability, or inability, to spell or how intelligent they are. I don't believe this...not in the least bit. I have seen it and I know many of you have seen it...our country has embraced ignorance.

If you truly don't care whether your grammar is accurate or not, you have done more than disappoint me. Your actions reflect upon your teachers, your parents, yourself, your loved ones, and most importantly American society. How is the rest of the world supposed to respect us and take us seriosly when our own citizens misspell words and use incorrect grammar? When we pay more attention to blonde airheads in Hollywood than to our own Executive Branch of government? It sickens me to even be associated with people who are "fine" or "cool" with being ignorant. If you think that spelling and grammar are small problems you're gravely mistaken.

When you drive down the road you might see signs for businesses and certain advertisers. The replacement of the letter "s" by the letter "z" is one of the worst examples in recent times (Good Times VS Good TIMEZ). We are setting poor examples to young, vulnerable children that misspelling words is not only cool, but lucrative as well. It has a much bigger impact than you may possibly fathom.

I was playing basketball with this young 18, 19 year old kid. He had a tattoo that immediately grabbed my attention. I asked him, "What's Geto? Is that a name of a lost friend or something"?
He responded, "What? Hell nah man! Do you know how to spell"?
I then asked him, "What does it mean"?
"You can't read? It says geto (ghetto)," he snapped back.
"Well, if that's what it's supposed to say, it doesn't. It's spelled wrong. Ghetto has an "H" after the "G"".
He responded, "No it doesn't. Hey, Darrell! Come over here! This guy thinks that my tat is spelled wrong. Tell me, what does that say"? as he points to his tattoo.
"It says GHETTO baby! Hell yeah! What? This dude can't read"? laughed Darrell.
I looked for someone who appeared to have a brain and I asked them to read it aloud for me. It was some guy from the exercise bikes and he read it like I did, "Geto? What the hell is a GETO"?
"Wait, what? Are you guys sure"? he said.
"Yeah man. I'm sorry bro, but your tattoo is spelled wrong. Wow. You paid for that"? I asked.
"Yeah, I did. I told him to write GHETTO on my arm and told him what style of lettering to use. Damn man. Are you sure it's spelled wrong"? he asked.
"Yeah man. Sorry," I responded.

You see what I mean? I was ridiculed and laughed at because I knew the actual spelling of a very simple word and this guy didn't. Why do we ridicule intelligence and embrace stupidity? Some of you might say that this is not a real problem and that I shouldn't worry. I'm sorry, but I disagree. For as advanced as we are for a country, we have failed to properly and accurately educate ourselves. Knowledge and information is everywhere. It is available to almost every person in the United States; there is no excuse for lack of an educated citizenry.

As Americans, we need to quit making excuses for mistakes and shortcomings and we need to man up. Admit fault and correct that fault so that it doesn't happen again. We need to correct each other irregardless of how it makes the other person feel. They'll be a better person for it, trust me. Stop ignoring problems simply to "be nice". If you care about this country and the people living here, you need to encourage people to take responsibility for their actions. Ignorance is not bliss; it is the failure as a society to properly educate one another. If you care about this country as much as I do you'll decide to take action. Being indifferent merely adds to the problem.