We're Going to Cite You for That

Not that anyone would take them seriously, but at least a few times a day, I wish I could issue citations for criminal disregard of punctuation, capitalization and basic grammar rules. I realize I'm among the minority who bother with capitalization and punctuation in texts and IMs, but I'm really annoyed by the use of all lower case text. Is it that difficult to hit the shift key? I work in an industry in which quite a few vendors follow that lead and insist that the "correct" spelling of their brand name is all lower case. The subject was mentioned in a meeting today, and half of the people at the table, including the president, turned to look at me. I'm glad my predictable irritation is so amusing...

Then there's the abuse of punctuation. I have long had the urge to bust people for horrific misuse of apostrophes. News flash: they do actually have a purpose, they aren't for decoration, and for the love of all that is holy, do NOT use them to make a plural! I realize that interoffice emails aren't regarded as formal communication, but is it too much to ask for a little basic punctuation for the sake of clarity? A few colleagues like to taunt me with the idea that upper case letters and "unnecessary" punctuation will be phased out as fewer people bother with such formalities. (Insert joke about prying my Chicago Manual of Style from my cold dead fingers). Yes, language is dynamic, and popular usage does bring about change. But don’t think we grammar geeks are going down without a fight.