For some reason, my brain is wired to believe that spelling is indicative of intelligence. I am not talking about typos or an occasional oversight. I am talking about the people who really do not understand the difference between then and than, were and where, their and there and they're.
When I was in graduate school, I was a teacher's assistant in an undergraduate class called "The Basics of Business". Throughout the year we taught them interview skills, dressing for success, business etiquette, how to write memos, and we even conducted grammar and spelling lessons. At the end of the year, they all filled out anonymous class evaluations and I was assigned to review them all and put together a report. Let me just tell you that I almost died when I read them. When asked "What was your least favorite part of this course", almost all of the students answered that the grammar and spelling lessons were unnecessary. But here is the kicker: 60% of those students spelled grammar as grammer. Grammer? Really? Clearly, the lessons would not have been pointless if you would have paid attention.
Based on my own personal observation, it seems to me that intelligence is somewhat linked to a person's ability to spell (however, I know that there are exceptions such as dyslexia). The people that I know that I consider intelligent (high test scores, higher education, intelligent conversation) are almost always better at spelling than the people that I consider less intelligent. Is this a coincidence? My own warped perception? I'm not sure. But I do know that I take people more seriously when they can write something coherent with little to no spelling errors.
So, yes. I am a spelling Nazi. No one is going to take you seriously if you don't learn how to spell. I have known employers that have thrown resumes in the trash simply because of spelling mistakes. It's called "spell check", people!
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