I hate spam, as so many other people do. What I don't mind as much are some of the more creative advertisements that show up. Unfortunately, most of it is all tied into the same thing, so I rarely spend any time separating one from the other.

Having said that, though, I do get to see some of the spam that comes through. I use a program called Mailwasher that filters my mail while it's still on the server, then allows me the opportunity to block everything I don't want and only download to my computer what I do want. Thing is, it also allows you to see as much or as little of messages as you want to, but as it learns it starts to block more and more of the spam.

Thing is, when it misses some, you can still block it, but you see some of what you're getting. And, what I find incredible is that what you see has all these misspellings, bad grammar and the like, and makes me wonder just who they think will see these things and possibly think they're legitimate enough to even want to try their products. Some of the topic headlines are so bad that it makes you think the people who paid for these things had to be morons to even let someone send these things out.

Having said that, how many folks have seen some of the resumes that are being sent out lately? How about reading online newspapers or news websites? Either writing and grammar are being thrown out these days or the editors have lost their way. I see so many errors with spelling and missing words from sentences that it sometimes reminds me of the spam messages that I receive. Not that one doesn't expect the errant typo every once in awhile, but when it pertains to business and one's professional life, do we really expect to be taken seriously if the one thing we're in control of, that being something that represents us, that we possibly created, has way too many errors? Especially if we're hoping for big money from these people we're contacting?

The saying is "You only get one chance to make a first impression." If you're not good at it, ask someone else to proofread it. There are mistakes, and no one should crucify you for one. But if there are many, you're in trouble. One big hint; never, and I mean NEVER, misspell the high school or college you went to. That will eliminate you faster than anything else, no matter who you are.