Several months ago, I wrote a column titled, “When I listen to Rosie O’Donnell, I’m like Å’wow.'” The column explicated the many sins people, especially Rosie, commit in the name of “like,” the most common sin being its use as a sub for “I said something like.”
    My friend Fred Stoessel joined me last week for coffee at McDonald’s. As we waited in line, I noticed a teenager in the next line whose appearance connoted way too much experience for a girl who probably isn’t yet eligible to celebrate her quinceñera. Not only has this 21st-century Lolita been around the block — she may qualify for frequent flyer miles.
    A journalism student at Highlands, writing about a pair of students who had applied for work with the Albuquerque Police Department, said, “Before being considered, they must put in 400 hours of field work.” Then the writer added, “Those 400 hours are roughly equivalent to three college degrees.”
At least three services have been conceived for the benefit of ordinary folk: U.S. mail, the telephone and e-mail.
    Early in our marriage, when we set up shop in Zuni, N.M., one of us exclaimed, on our first trip to the post office, “Look, our first bills!