Can I get an "Amen" on not using all lower case in posts?

I refuse to judge anyone by how they type.

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It's not a matter of "judging anyone."  It's a matter of how much effort it is to read it. Ideas are fine, if expressed such that I don't have to get a headache trying to understand what's there. Things don't have to be perfect (nice as that might be, it ain't gonna happen), but I won't try to read something that I have to work hard at reading because of the (as Bob B. says above) lack of contrast, or because it's difficult to figure out which word they actually mean (in case of homonyms, for example).

I just tried to read a blurb on an electric blanket, small type face, 10 or more lines, no paragraphing, long confusing sentences and didn't have any real technical information beyond the dimensions of the blanket.  All the rest was advertising hype!  RATS!

Larry N. said:

It's not a matter of "judging anyone."  It's a matter of how much effort it is to read it. Ideas are fine, if expressed such that I don't have to get a headache trying to understand what's there. Things don't have to be perfect (nice as that might be, it ain't gonna happen), but I won't try to read something that I have to work hard at reading because of the (as Bob B. says above) lack of contrast, or because it's difficult to figure out which word they actually mean (in case of homonyms, for example).

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Thanks Larry, I couldn't have said it nearly as well, because I can get judgmental. 

Just Lou said:

Thanks Larry, I couldn't have said it nearly as well, because I can get judgmental.

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Naaaw!  Say it isn't so, Lou.  ;D

AHhh--Mmeeennn!!!!

I love it.  Let the 'dumbing down' of America continue as long as we keep giving each other warm fuzzies.

Right on guys,  I am using my third language now; don't want to learn another one at this point in life. Don't want to get any dumber.

Carson, me too  ;D

Carson and Tom, I appreciate and applaud the efforts and expertise shown by you both in your articulation of our Americanized English.  The folks I am likely to inveigh against are those, native born and raised, who wont make the effort to ensure that their posts are as readable and understandable.

I don't consider myself a member of the aforementioned "Grammar Police", but neither am I good at solving hidden meaning games when reading posts.

My opinion.  And mine only.

You can "appreciate and applaud" all you like.  All day long until your blue in the face!  And the "dumbing down of America" is of great concern. 

BUT...
The fact still remains that there are those who just don't have the skills to say their piece with all the proper punctuation and grammer that some sound like they are expecting.  Hard to read?  Maybe.  Hard to follow?  Maybe.  Can you, as someone who is reading such a post, decipher it and able to help them out?  I hope so.  That's one of the reasons I hang around.  If the question is all lower case, I don't care.  More important things in this world to worry about.

my too cents. 

I'll give you an "A" for getting your point across, but I'm afraid you get an "F" in sentence structure, word selection, punctuation and paragraph composition.

A "D" for spelling would be generous, and I don't even know what "grammer" is.  Maybe improved "grammar" would have made it more understandable. ;D :-\

You got my AMEN! Amen again, without shouting. I am glad there are other ''old school (and old) fogies out there that appreciate this issue. To me, it is out of consideration to the reader, and a little bit of pride in knowing it's the right thing as we were taught years ago.

Just Lou said:

I'll give you an "A" for getting your point across, but I'm afraid you get an "F" in sentence structure, word selection, punctuation and paragraph composition.

A "D" for spelling would be generous, and I don't even know what "grammer" is.  Maybe improved "grammar" would have made it more understandable. ;D :-\

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I get it. 

And I do appreciate the "old school (and old) fogies" method myself, herd.  BTW, the end quote was missing on your post.  I put it in my reply.  How upset should I be that you made such a mistake?  I was very confused due to your sentence structure! 

My point is not to point fingers and judge.  My point is not to condone the dumbing down of America or start a war pertaining to the task and successfulness of our education system.  That is another issue that needs work big time!
My point is there are those who are doing the best they know how to convey a question or need help from someone.  It may disturb you, as a reader, that the post was difficult to read.  So ask yourself.  Is their post so much of a burden to read that you downgrade their intelligence and don't reply?  I find that thought petty and unproductive.

I make mistakes all the time.  I'm human.  I'm sure that my level of education is so far below some on this forum that I should be cleaning toilets.  I still refuse to judge those based on their ability to type a post.  Or complain on the way it was posted.  The reader has no way of knowing the circumstances.

In a perfect world, this wouldn't be an issue.  It's not a perfect world.  Who here wants to change it and make it all better?  Please step up!
I'm done.

And the Spell Check still isn't working.  Hmmmm....

How one takes this subject is, certainly, up to that individual.  However, my take is to try to make my communications as understandable as I can.  After all, the goal IS to communicate and if the communication is not understood, I fall short of that goal.  Without pointing a finger or denigrating  anyone's writing skills, I highly recommend use of the "preview" mode before posting.  I'm often surprised at how poorly my posting reads and if I have trouble reading it, surely everyone else will, too.

Molaker said:

How one takes this subject is, certainly, up to that individual.  However, my take is to try to make my communications as understandable as I can.  After all, the goal IS to communicate and if the communication is not understood, I fall short of that goal.  Without pointing a finger or denigrating  anyone's writing skills, I highly recommend use of the "preview" mode before posting.  I'm often surprised at how poorly my posting reads and if I have trouble reading it, surely everyone else will, too.

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Excellent post Molaker. I too use the preview mode and reread what I have written. It also gives me a second chance to bail out if I have written something that might offend someone.

Good suggestion re the use of Preview, although it doesn't do a lot for me personally; Other folks' typos and related errors jump off the page at me, but I can't/don't see my own typos. I have to come back the next day or next week and read my posts as if they were written by someone else, then I see "their" typos and errors immediately.

For this and other reasons, I periodically scroll back through my messages, sometimes going all the way back to the "beginning" (on this forum platform), and I'm sometimes (often?) apalled at what I wrote or the way I wrote/typed it.

Tom,
A related, but non-confrontational question...
Although the typos and errors jump off the monitor and slap you in the face, does that effect your reponse to any posted questions?  Does it matter that much as to the spelling or grammar that some get their underware in a bunch reading it?  I don't see it.  Your opinion?  Sorry to put you on the hot seat.  I mean no disrespect.  But, you being the Grand Poobah, ought to chime in and say your piece.

It was mentioned in a previous post that it wasn't a matter of "judging".  I disagree based on the postings of this thread alone.  It most certainly is a matter of judging!  Otherwise, they wouldn't have piped up concerning the issue!

In other words, level the playing field.

Tom said:

Good suggestion re the use of Preview, although it doesn't do a lot for me personally;

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I concur with the suggestion to use Preview - I will preview just about every post I type. And I especially like it if I have inserted a link. This way I am sure it works OK. It is amazing what a mistyped link can do to the overall post. 

I didn't start using the Preview button until about a year ago. I had several people constantly misinterpret things that I said. So now I make sure that I said exactly what I intended to say.

denmarc said:

Tom,
Although the typos and errors jump off the monitor and slap you in the face, does that effect your reponse to any posted questions?  Does it matter that much as to the spelling or grammar that some get their underware in a bunch reading it?

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Most of the time I could care less and am more concerned with what is being written vs. how it is written. However, the big one with me is a paragraph a mile and half long. It's actually more of I can't vs. won't read it. My eyes just go bonkers. So I refuse to try.

BTW, you misspelled underwear . . .