Communication - The Lost Art

I read a comment in a thread on Rennlist recently that (paraphrased) said:
English is not taught in Californian schools anymore. That time slot is known by the students as "sleeping class". The teachers focus on Spanish anyway.

I paraphrase because the actual post was quite hard to read and deciphering it's intended meaning was somewhat of a chore.

I know that I am a grammar and spelling nazi - I insist that if people are trying to communicate something to me, the onus is on THEM to ensure that the message is intelligible. I am adamant that it is not MY obligation to parse their message into a form suitable for comprehension.

Still...

It is a shame that language is not taught in Californian schools - and if you think those in Australia are any better, then you are delusional.

Writing is about communicating. If the intended receiver of the message sees a mess of random capitalization, misspelled words, and homophone misuse, mixed with L33T-speak and punctuation by scatter-gun, the message is often lost before it is even processed.

There is a reason the aphorism Too Long; Did Not Read exists, but it has a less well known counterpart in Too Incoherent; Did Not Try To Understand.

It's not MY job to turn your gabbling into sense. Get your thoughts in order, work out what you want to say, then use the tools of (your) language to transmit that message.

If I look at you blankly, it is not necessarily ME that is stupid.