LOL? WTF? L8R???

Dear gods in heaven above and below, grant me the strength to get through this phase of communication.

When did it become acceptable to not only butcher one's language, but to do so in such a flagrant and widespread fashion? Is the concept of basic grammar and spelling so alien to people that they can no take an extra 1/10 of a second to hit the extra two keys on their keyboard? Is it really that difficult to hold down the "shift" key when you start a sentence? Or god forbid, break your thoughts into paragraphs so that your readers (whom presumably you are trying to actually communicate with) can understand you?

Now, I will be the first to admit that some of the contractions and l33t speak (what a term that is) do make some sense. LOL is much easier to type than "I am laughing out loud". But thx for Thanks? Or l8r for later? Two, maybe three extra presses of keys on that big keyboard right in front of you. Is it so much to ask?

And let me not even get started on the death of the apostrophe. I am not sure when "I am" was defined as pretentious and burdensome, but at least "I'm" showed that you knew you were replacing one letter with one symbol, and required some thought. But now it has all been reduced even further to im guna go, brb, l8r kthnksbye!

This phenomenon does make sense in situations where time is of the essence (online gaming perhaps) or where typing is inconvenient (responding to a text message on your cell phone) but its showing up in letters, emails, forum posts, memos... you name it, you can find it.

Please people, think of what you are putting forward to those you are communicating with. Their impression of your writing, your thoughts expressed and you in general may well be defined by what you have written.