 |
|
|
|
No Speaka De Ingles? Tough Shit! I was at Wal-Mart the other day and I had a few quarters to spend so I decided to play one of those stupid machines to try and win an iPod or maybe that 1868 $100 gold certificate. The machine in front of me was large and confusing. I attempted to read the instructions but to my surprise they were in Spanish. This seems to happen quite frequently in my travels throughout the city of Los Angeles. And to tell you the truth I am getting sick of it. Now, I am all-for immigration and every one getting a fair shot at a slice of the pie, but if I see one more Spanish language billboard I will shoot somebody. I consider myself to be quite liberal but when it comes to the language debate, I am not so tolerant. Submitted for your review is why idiots need to learn English. To some people this issue does not affect them very much but I live in Los Angeles where we have a nearly 50% Spanish population. That to me is no big deal. But what pisses me off is that a person almost needs to be bilingual to navigate in this city. Last time I checked L.A. was still in America. Although acquired illegally, it still belongs to us. The fact that Los Angeles has 23 non English speaking radio stations (16 Spanish, 2 multi-language and 5 Asian stations) along with 7 Spanish language television stations is not helping matters. Why learn English if you don’t have to? This is bullshit. Even though this country doesn’t have an “official” language on paper, English is probably the most recognized characteristic of the American culture. It is my opinion that if you decide to live in a country and cannot even make an attempt to learn the language then you are slapping every citizen in the face. So in the same manner I wish to slap all you non English speaking idiots on the face with my penis. “But Bagoda that is so mean”, don’t worry those that might be offended will never be able to read this. They are too busy sitting there not learning English. My number one pet peeve is when some asshole approaches me and starts speaking to me in some foreign tongue, as if to assume that he is important enough for me to go out and learn his worthless language. Now, I’m not saying that everyone’s English has to be perfect, but for god’s sake at least try. During the same visit to Wal-Mart an Asian lady was having trouble deciphering the hair gel code (which is no easier for a person that is fluent in the English language) and asked which was better, the maximum hold or the super hold, in her broken English. To me that demands respect. She gave it a shot. People like this are winners in my book. It’s idiots that come to a foreign land and make no attempt to learn the native language and then expect the world to be catered to them that really drives me up a wall. I had a positive experience with this when I vacationed in France a few years ago. I had always heard the stories of the French being rude to Americans and shit like that. One thing I learned is that they react much like I do to foreigners assuming they speak their language. The easiest way to be treated with respect in France is to carry a pocket translator and actually put forth some effort to speak French. Now, 9 out of 10 people you encounter (at least in the tourists hot spots) will speak English, but if you simply assume they do and start speaking to them in English, you will be met with much more hostility. Most people we encountered allowed us to struggle for a brief moment and then revealed that they spoke English. This allowed for a friendly line of communication to be established. The bottom line is that this is America. There are two kinds of people in America, Americans and non Americans. Regardless of your immigration status or your country of origin, people need to make up their minds. I am in no way advocating that any one give up their cultural heritage or any other nonsense like that, but please have a little respect. If you choose to bury your head in the sand fine, but I’ll be god damned if I am going to be forced to pay for your lazy ignorance. If this article pisses you off then please ask yourself why. Obviously it is not speaking directly to you because you were able to read it. Perhaps you may be saying that I am a bit too critical and lack understanding. To that all I can say is….. Sópleme -= Bagoda =- |