LIKE

LIKE

Have you ever, like, noticed, like, how many times, like, young people, like, use the word “like”? Well, I have! I can’t believe it. I recently went out for lunch in a crowded student/staff/faculty dining area. I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two students. I am not in the habit of ease-dropping but the closeness made it impossible to ignore. “Like” was getting in the way of real conversation; I would compare it to nails on a caulk board. Instead of breathing in and out the word “like” is the new substituted. I was thinking to myself… Did her friend notice that “like” was used so often? Does the friend use the words “like” herself and is somehow able to ignore it? Did the friend not want to tell her to stop? Or was the friend counting the minutes until the lunch was over? I actually started counting how many times she used the word. I had to stop counting at about 40 after just a few minutes and start estimating how many times she going to say “like” in an hour, a day, a month a year? I packed up my things and left the dining area. It was too painful. I’m praying that she will out grow the fondness for the “like” word. And that she has to take a public speaking class! Someone has to tell her!