Speak English

[tedmchugh]

So I was shopping at my favorite grocery store the other day. It's an ethnic grocery store. They have the best staff and best produce not to mention great prices. Naturally, being an ethnic store, the staff is generally going to speak their native tongue.

So I am at the check out and there was this SC in front of me checking out. The clerk asked her co-worker something in spanish. The SC blurts out "Your In America, speak english!!" The clerk was stunned!. I was stunned! I'm thinking, your in a damn ethnic grocery store, what do you expect. I politely told the SC to shut the F%#* up. Then the people behind me were agreeing with me.

The nerve of people!!

[EricKei]

Whatever gets the shopping done more quickly and painlessly works for me ^_^ Besides, the cashier was addressing a co-worker in Spanish, not the custy. I see no foul on the cashier's part.

PS, Welcome to Customers Suck!

[Jay 2K Winger]

I once called a Co-Irker out on that kind of ignorance.

Another CW was in the break room (and thus, not on the sales floor, and naturally on break) and talking on her cell phone, in Spanish.

CI comes in, and once CW hangs up, lays into her about "you're in America, you should speak English."

I interrupted and told CI, "She wasn't talking to you, she was talking to family on her cell phone, what business of yours is it what language she speaks at home?"

CI spluttered a bit, then muttered something about needing to get back to work and walks out of the break room.

[Fudgethatkay]

I love you.

I had that happen when I use Japanese with my roommate T out in public, and it drives me batty.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I love you.

I had that happen when I use Japanese with my roommate T out in public, and it drives me batty.

Exactly. I'll admit, there is a part of me that got irritated at the wholesale club when I'd get some customers who didn't speak English very well, and didn't appear to be making an effort to learn, but I justified in my head thusly--

"They speak their language at home, there's probably a smaller store near where they live where they speak their language, most of the people they deal with on a regular basis speak their language, it only becomes an issue when they venture out to my store. Don't get angry, they get back with what little they know, good for them."

[MoonCat]

Good for you for speaking up, tedmchugh.

A similar thing happened in a supermarket once when I was shopping with my sister, not too long after 9/11. A couple of ladies were speaking to each other in their native language, and some old bat bitched at them about it. My sister told the old bat to shut up, that the two ladies weren't speaking to her, and as this is a free country, they could speak in whatever language they wanted.

Old bat went away with a cat-butt face. I was very proud of sis because she's pretty shy and hates talking to strangers.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

The one I REALLY had to bite my tongue on was the person who was trying to imitate the "Gangsta Culture" and was going on about how "Yo Dawg! Dis 'Merica man! You be needin speak 'Merican Holmes!"

This was coming out of a white high school kid.

I was biting my tongue. I was so wanting to tell him that "Yes. Yes this is America and before you start complaining that others should speak English, perhaps you ought to try to get a better grasp of the language than the immigrant you're complaining about. At least I can understand him."

But I held my tongue. I just wasn't in the mood to verbally tangle with him.

[smileyeagle1021]

I interrupted and told CI, "She wasn't talking to you, she was talking to family on her cell phone, what business of yours is it what language she speaks at home?"

Alternatively, "how do you know she is calling someone in the United States, for all you know she is calling someone in South America in which case it would be common courtesy to speak to them in their native toungue if you are able to do so, just as you expect people to do when they deal with you."

[Sparky]

I always wonder how these people would act if, for some reason, they were living abroad. Of course they would immediately learn Spanish, or German, or Portugese, or Japanese, or Arabic. And they would use it with their family if they were out shopping wouldn't they?

Yeah. Right.

[PepperElf]

so pretty much they're both rude AND nosy. as if it's their business what the worker said to the other worker, or what someone said over the phone etc.?

[blas]

People used to bitch and moan about my former shift lead always yaking on her phone to her parents in Russian.

Her English skills were...well, still are, better than the Blue Collar Tour hillbilly jibberish that the local fucktards here have.

[PepperElf]

She was fluent in Russian? Cool.

Personally… I think it's silly - and stupid - to trash on people for being multi-lingual. It's a talent in my book.

A lot of jobs pay extra for translation skills. Back in the 60s my mother convinced one woman to go HR cos the woman was fluent in a couple of other languages - next thing she knew she was reassigned as a translator and pulling a higher paycheck. In the Navy I knew people who pulled in extra pay cos of translation skills. (pay determined by difficulty or need, as well as number of languages too IIRC).

[Barracuda]

I've actually been on the other side of the coin--got yelled at for not speaking Spanish. I used to work call centers, and every so often I would get a Spanish speaker and have to transfer them to another line. However, I had one or two people lay into me over it (and this is the thing, obviously they spoke English well enough!) and start yelling that I should speak Spanish, and why didn't I learn it, and there was no excuse not to know it. Mind you, this was in Oregon, taking calls only from the United States. Guess idiocy goes both ways.

[ender]

I've actually been on the other side of the coin--got yelled at for not speaking Spanish.

This actually happened to me in an e-mail - got a message from somebody in Spanish, and since I don't speak it (and there's nothing that would suggest I speak it), so I answered with a short "English or Slovenian only please". This was the response: "You'd better learn to speak spanish," (then continued with some rambling about the webpage design through which my program is distributed). I simply answered that he should learn to speak Slovenian.

[PepperElf]

I simply answered that he should learn to speak Slovenian.

I bet that one threw them for a loop.