I'm a grammar snob.  This is no secret.  I'm a bit on the pedantic side when it comes to the written word.  I'm by no means perfect, but I do have a minimum set of standards when it comes to punctuation, capitol letters, ****nyms, and basic spelling.

So it goes without saying that a large number of people on the Internet infuriate me.  Native English speakers.  People whom their respective educational systems and parents have failed.  I am most infuriated by the people who simply do not care.  They actually get defensive about their illiteracy.  Like it's this trivial, excusable thing.  Grown adults who couldn't tell you the difference between there, their, and they're or spell the word restaurant.  My ten-year-old nephew can write better prose than these people.  

What has been sending me over the edge lately is a great majority of expectant mothers on a number of pregnancy message boards I frequent.  These are the people who are going to be raising the next generation.  These people's kids are going to inherit this brave new world.  These people cannot string a coherent sentence to save their lives.  And in the meantime all across this country the number of kids graduating -- graduating -- from high school who can't even read at a fifth grade level is rising.  And for those millions of kids who don't even make it out of high school… who knows.  

These people are breeding.  They couldn't care less if their kids can write a high school-level essay.  As long as young Bryttny and Hunter pass those standardized tests and win that soccer/football/gymnastics match, then by God they're doing just fine.  And one day when their barely-English resumes are launched into the circular file faster than the HR person can laugh at them, they can always stay at home and take care of mommy in between their shifts at the local laundromat.