Young ladies, I have two words for you.

CAPITAL LETTERS.

Not, though, like above. Not ALL CAPS. Not Extraneous Capitalization.

Just adequate. Like, for example, your name. Yes, your name, be it Ashley or Tiffany or Stephanie or Brittany or Misty or Amber. Which it usually is.

Though your name might be common, it does not mean it does not deserve some respect. Some special consideration. Is your name a plate? A rock? A speck of dust?

No, it is your name. It's a proper name, even. So, please, use a capital letter for it.

Inevitably, when I see a new applicant in my system who appears like this:

angela anylastname

I already know what the resume is. She probably graduated from high school in the past five years. She doesn't live in a metropolitan area. She works at a big box retailer or chain restaurant. She's worked a lot of places in those five years.

I'm not saying any of that as a criticism or mockery. I'll mock people for a lot of things on this blog, but not, generally, for circumstances beyond their control, like the accident of when and where they were born, and how much money their parents probably had.

But it does sort of stick in my craw in some way.

Sure, it's probably just a texting culture, one that doesn't value grammar. I realize my Old Timey insistence on proper English is tilting at windmills.

However, it's not usually the guys who do this. Sure, sometimes your Matthews and Joshs and Dustins and Brads might not capitalize, but even those fellows whose work history, education and geographic origins are the same as the ashleys and tiffanys usually capitalize their own names.

I'm a writer, languange and how people use it means something to me. And the fact that these girls don't think their name needs to be capitalized...I can't help but think that means something too.