A couple of days agoI was watching NBC Nightly News and there was a segment on the children of immigrants. In the story, this 17-year-old young man, let's call him Flaco, was forced to grow up early because he functioned as the head of household because neither of his parents spoke English.
Now here is the fucked up part. Flaco's parents came to the United States from El Salvador IN THE 1980s. His father said they found English too difficult to learn so they gave up before the boy was born. Furthermore, they forbid any of their six kids from speaking English in the house. Now kids, what kind of fucked up bullshit is that?
We can deduce a couple of things about Flaco's family. First of all, his parents are most likely borderline retarded. How can you live country for almost 30 years and not even pick up a pidgin understanding of the language? We can also deduce that Flaco and his brothers and sisters will jet the moment they turn 18 and I can't blame him.
This used to be a country where people aspired to be better. People used to come to this country speaking no English and within a couple of months or a year, they were conversant. Now we have people who have lived here FOR DECADES and still speak almost no English. In some parts of the country, you would think you were in a foreign land because the street signs and other landmarks are in a foreign language. This is ridiculous.
This is America and the official language of this country is English. But no, you say, there is no law mandating English as the official language. Well, darlings, if the laws are written in English and ignorance of the law is not an excuse, then the language the laws are written in is the official language.I am typically a very tolerant person, but I have a problem with people who live in this country that don't speak English.
I am the prototypical Ugly American. I am the guy who will not speak to someone I can't understand. I will be dismissive of them and ask to speak to the manager, until I get someone who speaks English that I can understand and who understands me. When I call my credit card company and "Heather" or "David" answers the phone, I will refuse to speak with them and insist on being put through to a Level Three Manager (Levels One and Two are usually in India or wherever the job has been outsourced to) who is in the United States.
This is not because I am racist or a xenophobe or anti-foreigner. I just don't have time to deal with a customer service person or other people with whom I can't communicate. We have all been in the situation where you are trying to resolve a dispute with someone and you can tell by the look in their eye that they don't understand a word you are saying. Fuck 'em. I call the manager. Am I wrong? Or am I just not being politically correct?
I will give these people one thing, they have got balls. I could never move someplace where I did not speak or understand the language and get a job that requires me to interact with people. So as La Washington might say, "Well God bless 'em." Just don't come up to me on the street and as me for shyt because I am gonna tell you to go find someone who knows what the hell you are talking about!
Now here is the fucked up part. Flaco's parents came to the United States from El Salvador IN THE 1980s. His father said they found English too difficult to learn so they gave up before the boy was born. Furthermore, they forbid any of their six kids from speaking English in the house. Now kids, what kind of fucked up bullshit is that?
We can deduce a couple of things about Flaco's family. First of all, his parents are most likely borderline retarded. How can you live country for almost 30 years and not even pick up a pidgin understanding of the language? We can also deduce that Flaco and his brothers and sisters will jet the moment they turn 18 and I can't blame him.
This used to be a country where people aspired to be better. People used to come to this country speaking no English and within a couple of months or a year, they were conversant. Now we have people who have lived here FOR DECADES and still speak almost no English. In some parts of the country, you would think you were in a foreign land because the street signs and other landmarks are in a foreign language. This is ridiculous.
This is America and the official language of this country is English. But no, you say, there is no law mandating English as the official language. Well, darlings, if the laws are written in English and ignorance of the law is not an excuse, then the language the laws are written in is the official language.I am typically a very tolerant person, but I have a problem with people who live in this country that don't speak English.
I am the prototypical Ugly American. I am the guy who will not speak to someone I can't understand. I will be dismissive of them and ask to speak to the manager, until I get someone who speaks English that I can understand and who understands me. When I call my credit card company and "Heather" or "David" answers the phone, I will refuse to speak with them and insist on being put through to a Level Three Manager (Levels One and Two are usually in India or wherever the job has been outsourced to) who is in the United States.
This is not because I am racist or a xenophobe or anti-foreigner. I just don't have time to deal with a customer service person or other people with whom I can't communicate. We have all been in the situation where you are trying to resolve a dispute with someone and you can tell by the look in their eye that they don't understand a word you are saying. Fuck 'em. I call the manager. Am I wrong? Or am I just not being politically correct?
I will give these people one thing, they have got balls. I could never move someplace where I did not speak or understand the language and get a job that requires me to interact with people. So as La Washington might say, "Well God bless 'em." Just don't come up to me on the street and as me for shyt because I am gonna tell you to go find someone who knows what the hell you are talking about!
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