Bad Dog, Bad Fish, Bad Writing

What do all of these things have in common?  They usually stink.  The dog rolls in something long dead.  Fish is often sold several weeks after it was caught.  And writing?  Some of it, some of mine, just stinks because it's written carelessly, quickly and with no thought to the reader's ease.

The fix?  Wash the dog, trash the fish, and dish the words you mean to say and make it count for something.

What prompts this topic is the abundance of poor writing, language and spelling on that quintessential Blather of the Masses known as Facebook.  Many people simply believe a post like

"... . have a wonderul Easter adn remember, Jesus wouold've died if it had JUST been for you.  God is gud!...."

is "about the message not the messenger."  No, no, no, no and positvely NO!  This shitty writing says more about the messenger than their Curriculum Vitae.   If I write "God is gud," are you overwhelmed with the depth of my faith and loving demeanor?  I sure as hell hope not.  You should be appalled by my utter lack of initiative to give half a rat turd about my communication skills.

My first thought when I read a poorly composed post is that the messenger is a flippin' numptie and then my eyes roll so far up in my head that it hurts me.  My second thought is that he or she hasn't read a book since their last year of schooling.  Jumping to a recognized cognitive insufficiency like dyslexia doesn't even flicker over my dumb-shit-o-meter.  Rather, I conclude that this person doesn't care about what they say, who their audience might be or if their message even gets through.  They just want to blather about nothing and everything - - much like I do only with reasonable employment of decent grammar and spelling.

What does this say about me as a person?  Am I a bad person for "missing the message" and focusing a baneful eye on the shit-for-brains moron who believes every word out of their mouths is golden?  Perhaps.  More to the point, it says I know that words have power.

Words become images in our minds.  Language incites us to a myriad of emotions as we read, talk with someone, listen to our favorite music.  Care enough to let your words bear the weight of your meaning.

"Use what language you will, you can never say anything but what you are."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson