In my status update, I add that, in light of the degradation of the title “Madam,” I would like to be called, “Señora.” Of course “Madam” is merely English for “Señora.” That the two terms are used by upper class women to distinguish themselves from their maids hints at the colonial roots of our social stratification. My insistence on being called “Señora” rather than “Madam” was not just an attempt to label Mesdames Janet and Arlene as nouveau riche, but was also a stab at those de buenas familias who prefer the Spanish terms. After all, historians have documented that many of our old rich can trace their wealth to the plunder and pandering of their forebears during the Spanish colonial period. For the new carpetbaggers, the preferred term is the English one.