Press #1 For English?

[Unkotare]

"Allow"? Who the fuck is not going to "allow" private businesses to pander to whatever customer base they choose?

"customer base"? Who the fuck cares about people who are broke and don't belong here?

But didn't they take jobs away? There's got to be an income.

And you're attitudes are exactly like those of your American predecessors. Did they complain about Yiddish theater and newspapers? Did they say that the knife wielding Italian or the rowdy drunken Irishman or the swarthy Greek were ruining American culture?

You bet they complained! And they were as wrong as you are today. It's amazing how the behavior stays consistent given all the other changes.

C'est le guerre!

The Italians nor the Irish tried to turn our country into a bilingual nation. You didn't see signs written in Italian, you didn't have ballots printed in Italian or any other language. Today, thanks to these invaders, that has all changed.

Italian Media in the United States: A Two-Century-Long History

So what's the point of this link? How is this relevant to Spanish speaking people changing our language or culture? Show me how this is related to anybody having to press anything on their phone to speak Italian.

Immigrants from "the good old days" did NOT instantly abandon their language and culture the second they set foot on American soil. They assimilated individually at varying rates and generationally at about 100%. Many immigrants gravitated to poor neighborhoods with enthically-similar support systems. They were often poor, and crowded into dense, unhealthy, unsafe tenements. The weak, insecure, myopic, and un-American of those days whined, cried, and sometimes resorted to violence because "they are taking our jobs!" Some of those immigrants of yesteryear who experienced such prejudice are the ancestors of many of those whining today. Those who don't learn from history...

 

[Unkotare]

Immigrants from many parts of Europe in the 1800s and early 1900s printed newspapers in their home languages, established nation-of-origin social clubs, spoke their heritage languages, ate their ethnic foods with those similar to themselves, and supported each other as per their own customs. Inevitably, their children grew up bilingual and their grandchildren grew up exclusive speakers of English and fully assimilated. Just like today.

 

[Dragonlady]

When I was a teenager living in a small town, I remember being at my friend's family cottage and his grandmother became enraged at the "iggorant Eye-talian" family who set up their picnic on our private beach, and had their kids going to the toilet behind our tree because there were no washrooms. I was ashamed at how rudely she treated these people.

It wasn't just the "eye-talians" either. It was also the Irish, and Polish, really, anyone who wasn't white and of British descent. Being of French descent, well, at least I didn't have an accent, but it was tollerated at best.

Italians were taking all of the construction industry jobs. Irish were lazy and useless. Of course both were Catholics, so that explained a lot.

From the beginning of time, there have been tribes, and tribalism, and bigotry. We don't have to continue it. They're people. They're all just people. There is no "us and them", there is only us.

 

[Unkotare]

Italian immigrants back in the "good old days " were often derided as "garlic eaters."

 

[Thinker101]

When I was a teenager living in a small town, I remember being at my friend's family cottage and his grandmother became enraged at the "iggorant Eye-talian" family who set up their picnic on our private beach, and had their kids going to the toilet behind our tree because there were no washrooms. I was ashamed at how rudely she treated these people.

It wasn't just the "eye-talians" either. It was also the Irish, and Polish, really, anyone who wasn't white and of British descent. Being of French descent, well, at least I didn't have an accent, but it was tollerated at best.

Italians were taking all of the construction industry jobs. Irish were lazy and useless. Of course both were Catholics, so that explained a lot.

From the beginning of time, there have been tribes, and tribalism, and bigotry. We don't have to continue it. They're people. They're all just people. There is no "us and them", there is only us.

Thank you so much for the lovely anecdotal story, although it does seem to prove intolerance runs in the family, were they all lefties?

 

[Dragonlady]

When I was a teenager living in a small town, I remember being at my friend's family cottage and his grandmother became enraged at the "iggorant Eye-talian" family who set up their picnic on our private beach, and had their kids going to the toilet behind our tree because there were no washrooms. I was ashamed at how rudely she treated these people.

It wasn't just the "eye-talians" either. It was also the Irish, and Polish, really, anyone who wasn't white and of British descent. Being of French descent, well, at least I didn't have an accent, but it was tollerated at best.

Italians were taking all of the construction industry jobs. Irish were lazy and useless. Of course both were Catholics, so that explained a lot.

From the beginning of time, there have been tribes, and tribalism, and bigotry. We don't have to continue it. They're people. They're all just people. There is no "us and them", there is only us.

Thank you so much for the lovely anecdotal story, although it does seem to prove intolerance runs in the family, were they all lefties?

No my friend's family were conservatives.

 

[Unkotare]

What's the official language of the USA?

Well, you see, that the U.S. has no official language is the major failing of any lines of complaint about extant bilingual/multilingual offerings and overtures organizations and individuals may make.

And it's about time that changed.

It's not going to.

 

[usmbguest5318]

When I was a teenager living in a small town, I remember being at my friend's family cottage and his grandmother became enraged at the "iggorant Eye-talian" family who set up their picnic on our private beach, and had their kids going to the toilet behind our tree because there were no washrooms. I was ashamed at how rudely she treated these people.

It wasn't just the "eye-talians" either. It was also the Irish, and Polish, really, anyone who wasn't white and of British descent. Being of French descent, well, at least I didn't have an accent, but it was tollerated at best.

Italians were taking all of the construction industry jobs. Irish were lazy and useless. Of course both were Catholics, so that explained a lot.

From the beginning of time, there have been tribes, and tribalism, and bigotry. We don't have to continue it. They're people. They're all just people. There is no "us and them", there is only us.

We don't have to continue it.

Insofar as the U.S. is a nation founded by people who emigrated in search of a better life, one'd think the ugliness of the nature you describe would not today remain part of our cultural ethos. Yet, for all the enlightenment that suffused our founding and built our nation, it still is.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Why the hell did we ever allow that? ... I say get rid of all the bilingual signs and phone messages....GONE. ...

"Allow"? Who the fuck is not going to "allow" private businesses to pander to whatever customer base they choose?

I don't see it as pandering.

 

[Unkotare]

Why the hell did we ever allow that? ... I say get rid of all the bilingual signs and phone messages....GONE. ...

"Allow"? Who the fuck is not going to "allow" private businesses to pander to whatever customer base they choose?

I don't see it as pandering.

Accommodate, serve, market, or target then.

 

[Unkotare]

English, you obviously don't speak it.

AMERICAN English.....order "bangers and mash" and the waitress is gonna just stare at ya.

Depends on the menu.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Why the hell did we ever allow that? ... I say get rid of all the bilingual signs and phone messages....GONE. ...

"Allow"? Who the fuck is not going to "allow" private businesses to pander to whatever customer base they choose?

I don't see it as pandering.

Accommodate, serve, market, or target then.

If you stood to serve your customers better by having bilingual service would you not do it? Profit is profit & politics should be kept out of it.

 

[Unkotare]

Why the hell did we ever allow that? ... I say get rid of all the bilingual signs and phone messages....GONE. ...

"Allow"? Who the fuck is not going to "allow" private businesses to pander to whatever customer base they choose?

I don't see it as pandering.

Accommodate, serve, market, or target then.

If you stood to serve your customers better by having bilingual service would you not do it? ....

Most likely.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Then jail their employers. They're the asswipes who are giving jobs to illegals over citizens which just encourages them to jump the border. If there are no jobs in the US, they stay home.

e-verify was doing the job until Barry disabled it.....just another in a long line of treasonous moves he's now hiding from.

A snake by his nature.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I just got off the phone with Hilton reservation desk... I selected 1 for English and got somebody who could barely speak it.

 

[HenryBHough]

A little earlier today I wanted to confirm that a home-improvement store actually had in stock the item I wanted.

I never did talk with anyone.

When they told me I had to "press 1 to continue in English" I hung up and called a different store. They had the item and would match the price though I had to drive an extra half-mile.

Small inconvenience to buy AMERICAN.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

"customer base"? Who the fuck cares about people who are broke and don't belong here?

But didn't they take jobs away? There's got to be an income.

And you're attitudes are exactly like those of your American predecessors. Did they complain about Yiddish theater and newspapers? Did they say that the knife wielding Italian or the rowdy drunken Irishman or the swarthy Greek were ruining American culture?

You bet they complained! And they were as wrong as you are today. It's amazing how the behavior stays consistent given all the other changes.

C'est le guerre!

The Italians nor the Irish tried to turn our country into a bilingual nation. You didn't see signs written in Italian, you didn't have ballots printed in Italian or any other language. Today, thanks to these invaders, that has all changed.

Italian Media in the United States: A Two-Century-Long History

So what's the point of this link? How is this relevant to Spanish speaking people changing our language or culture? Show me how this is related to anybody having to press anything on their phone to speak Italian.

Immigrants from "the good old days" did NOT instantly abandon their language and culture the second they set foot on American soil. They assimilated individually at varying rates and generationally at about 100%. Many immigrants gravitated to poor neighborhoods with enthically-similar support systems. They were often poor, and crowded into dense, unhealthy, unsafe tenements. The weak, insecure, myopic, and un-American of those days whined, cried, and sometimes resorted to violence because "they are taking our jobs!" Some of those immigrants of yesteryear who experienced such prejudice are the ancestors of many of those whining today. Those who don't learn from history...

The jobs back then paid crap to everybody. But Europeans did not sneak in here undercutting American wages or putting Americans out of work. They didn't send their money back to their home country and worked hard to assimilate into America.

The neighborhood I was born into was Polish, but the Polish didn't expect this country to cater to them. They cherished the opportunity to come here and be part of America.

When those immigrants came here, there were few ways to learn the language, but they exercised every opportunity available. So of course they didn't immediately abandon their native tongue. I remember one of our neighbors when we were children. They spoke only a few words of English, but my sister taught the little girl, and she would take her knowledge to teach her parents. This was on top of going to English class that the local church held for the immigrants.

Compared to back then, learning a different langue is easy today with computers, DVDs and the internet. We have customers that are foreign that I deliver to. Sometimes we don't see them for a while, so when I go back a year or two later, the foreigners spoke no better English than they did the last time I seen them.

 

[Unkotare]

But didn't they take jobs away? There's got to be an income.

And you're attitudes are exactly like those of your American predecessors. Did they complain about Yiddish theater and newspapers? Did they say that the knife wielding Italian or the rowdy drunken Irishman or the swarthy Greek were ruining American culture?

You bet they complained! And they were as wrong as you are today. It's amazing how the behavior stays consistent given all the other changes.

C'est le guerre!

The Italians nor the Irish tried to turn our country into a bilingual nation. You didn't see signs written in Italian, you didn't have ballots printed in Italian or any other language. Today, thanks to these invaders, that has all changed.

Italian Media in the United States: A Two-Century-Long History

So what's the point of this link? How is this relevant to Spanish speaking people changing our language or culture? Show me how this is related to anybody having to press anything on their phone to speak Italian.

Immigrants from "the good old days" did NOT instantly abandon their language and culture the second they set foot on American soil. They assimilated individually at varying rates and generationally at about 100%. Many immigrants gravitated to poor neighborhoods with enthically-similar support systems. They were often poor, and crowded into dense, unhealthy, unsafe tenements. The weak, insecure, myopic, and un-American of those days whined, cried, and sometimes resorted to violence because "they are taking our jobs!" Some of those immigrants of yesteryear who experienced such prejudice are the ancestors of many of those whining today. Those who don't learn from history...

The jobs back then paid crap to everybody. But Europeans did not sneak in here undercutting American wages or putting Americans out of work. ....

That's exactly what your counterparts in the 1800s whined about. You have taken up a torch of hypocrisy and cowardice.

 

[Unkotare]

..... They didn't send their money back to their home country ....

Many of them did exactly that.

 

[Unkotare]

... worked hard to assimilate into America......

Just like immigrants today.