Years ago, when I was teaching English to high school students, I was apalled at how incomprehensible some of my students’ papers were. The department head explained to me that a number of years ago, schools decided to focus more on “creativity” in writing than on proper grammar, spelling, etc. The end result is a generation of kids who can’t string a damn sentence together.
Nowadays, I’m not surprised when I see postings like Susama’s. It does, however, inspire me to seek out a school with a good English department for my kids.
By the way, I should take this opportunity to congratulate the vast majority of the Dope for having such excellent writing skills. There are very few people here, IMO, who aren’t able to clearly and effectively communicate an idea. Bravo.