Rant on, Kat!! I can't believe the degree of inane stupidity we (collectively) have let loose on our own futures. I hired a writer last year who seemed well qualified by experience to do technical documentation, and she in real fact didn't know the difference between a comma and a semicolon, nor could she use articles correctly; I could vent for a while about this because I felt duped at having to train her in the things she presented herself as knowing, although I didn't want to kick her out because she was good hearted and did work "hard" -- just not very well. For a working adult to be so adrift in basic language skills just boggles my mind!

My daughter, at fifteen, writes a better paragraph than that. But she did not learn it at school.

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