One of our readers was taken to task online last week for using poor grammar and spelling in a Reader Comment to one of our stories about recent drug searches at Monroe High School.

It made me think of a pet peeve, and wonder whether it's reasonable for me to be irritated.

Like most of the people in the Times newsroom, I write and edit more words in a day than I could ever count. I don't fare so well in math, after all.

In the process of writing and editing all those words, we all make mistakes, of course. You may beg to differ, but I think given the volume of words and sentences we write, edit and publish in our newspaper and online on a daily basis, we display a solid command of grammar and spelling.

In general, I try to take the same care with the words I choose, and how I use and spell them, in an e-mail - or a Reader Comment. I think words are too important to use them improperly or unwisely.

Which is why it always bothers me a little when I see a disregard for the language in e-mails I receive. But as I cringe, I also wonder whether it should matter. Do others feel the same way I do about grammar and spelling in e-mails?

Or am I just an e-mail elitist?