Um, Like

Three weeks ago, when I was in the US, I attended the recruiting weekend of a large Virginia university. Since I attended Wittenberg University, a small, liberal arts institution in Springfield, Ohio, I was unprepared for the size of the student union. I knew in which rooms the weekend program would take place--but how to find them in such a huge building?

My mom and I headed to the information desk. (Yes, my mother came with me. A lot of the other prospective students thought this was a little weird--a mother at a GRADUATE recruiting weekend?--but I wasn't going to drive to an unknown city alone and forgo the chance to spend the time with my mommy!) "Excuse me, can you tell me where the spring recruiting weekend is?" I asked.

"Umm... I haven't heard anything about that," the girl said. She looked like she was about 16 years old. "Nikki, can you help these people?"

Nikki turned to us. "What's up?" she asked. She was dressed in sweats with the university's logo and chomping on some chewing gum.

"We're looking for the spring recruiting weekend," I said.

"Umm, does that have, like, something to do with graduation?" she asked.

"No," I said, "It's for graduate school."

"Ohh, yeah, that's it. Down the hall and to your right," she told us, pointing with her pencil.

As soon as we were out of sight, we burst into laughter. Moving back might be a shock...