Welcome, alice nelson, to The Benefit Bank!
I see this in nearly every training. Entering information in all lower-case letters. Evidence of a culture far too saturated with texting and casual email communication.
And it makes me cringe a little inside. (Probably the English major, grammar nerd and former copy editor in me.)
And it's not just the young whippersnappers who are doing it!
No one seems to notice it looks odd or unprofessional to fill out a form using all lower-case letters. Other trainers I've talked to have noticed the same thing.
When I see people do this, I am always torn whether to correct them, suggesting that, hey, perhaps you'd like to capitalize your proper nouns? I worry it seems overly picky or unnecessarily rude, especially considering the information overload that all-day trainings can be for some people.
For a while, I had been letting it slide, because afterall it IS just practice. Lower-case letters should be the least of my worries, right?
But today I decided I need to start speaking up.
No offense to my beloved baby sister, but after watching her handwrite a Christmas thank-you note using such ... words? ... as "thx" and "ur" without batting an eyelash, I can see this has the tendency to become so ingrained as to be unconscious.
It made me face the realization that counselors are not being lax with letters because they know they are just practicing, but because it is what they are used to and it won't change when they are with a real client.
whew. sry 4 the rant. thx for listening.
Sarah I'm a constant nit pick and when I gave Benefit Bank Trainings I would always tell them that they may want to capitalize peoples names and things becase it is how it will appear on the application. I also suggested to them when I seen them doing it to go back and edit the entry because it looks more professional to use proper punctuation. It might seem like being a bit over picky but they do remember it and later will use it.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work :)
I am very happy to see someone's still fighting the good fight! However, I remain without hope in these matters. Yes, that's right; all is lost regarding the future of English. (lmao!!)
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