The latest descent into “Wokeness”: A shopping mall in a Democrat town

[Mac-7]

UNITED states. Nah... not anymore.

Thats the lib dream

and it could happen

 

[ABikerSailor]

There was something else that happened, too. I was at a department store, and the saleswoman came up to me and said “Buenos Dias.” I just looked at her blankly, and she switched to English.

Is Spanish now the default language in America?

You know, after spending over 20 years in the U.S. Navy, and learning friendly greetings in several different languages, when someone greets me nicely, I respond back with a friendly greeting in English and not a blank stare. Blame my Navy upbringing on that one.

Buenos Dias is Spanish for Good Day, same as someone saying Good Afternoon in English. I recognize that the US is a multicultural and multilingual country, and being given a friendly greeting deserves a friendly response and not a blank stare in my book. My opinion is that responding with a blank stare was rude.

 

[Moonglow]

Thats the lib dream

and it could happen

Not if the conservatives don't stop threatening to secede.

 

[Lisa558]

it won't change you from not liking blacks and transgendered people.

Pffffft…..

You know, after spending over 20 years in the U.S. Navy, and learning friendly greetings in several different languages, when someone greets me nicely, I respond back with a friendly greeting in English and not a blank stare. Blame my Navy upbringing on that one.

Buenos Dias is Spanish for Good Day, same as someone saying Good Afternoon in English. I recognize that the US is a multicultural and multilingual country, and being given a friendly greeting deserves a friendly response and not a blank stare in my book. My opinion is that responding with a blank stare was rude.

My opinion is that staff working in American retail stores should address their customers in English. It is rude to expect customers to speak a foreign language. English is the primary language in this country.
.

 

[bendog]

Just never leave the house. Call customer service. If the rep has poor language skills, just hang up and call back. Rinse and repeat until you get a good english talker.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Pffffft…..

My opinion is that staff working in American retail stores should address their customers in English. It is rude to expect customers to speak a foreign language. English is the primary language in this country.
.

Hate to tell you, but according to your own story, after you gave her the blank stare, she spoke to you in English. She did not expect you to speak anything other than English. And, like I said, when someone is being friendly and you respond with a blank stare, that is rude in my opinion. Someone says "Merry Christmas" to you during the holiday season in Spanish (Feliz Navidad), are you going to do the same thing and give them a blank stare? Me? I'm gonna respond with Merry Christmas and go about my business with no offense taken. But then again, blame my Navy upbringing for that one, because unlike a lot of people in this country, I'm multi lingual friendly, and if someone is friendly to me, I'm gonna be friendly back, no matter what language they use.

 

[Lisa558]

Hate to tell you, but according to your own story, after you gave her the blank stare, she spoke to you in English. She did not expect you to speak anything other than English. And, like I said, when someone is being friendly and you respond with a blank stare, that is rude in my opinion. Someone says "Merry Christmas" to you during the holiday season in Spanish (Feliz Navidad), are you going to do the same thing and give them a blank stare? Me? I'm gonna respond with Merry Christmas and go about my business with no offense taken. But then again, blame my Navy upbringing for that one, because unlike a lot of people in this country, I'm multi lingual friendly, and if someone is friendly to me, I'm gonna be friendly back, no matter what language they use.

This wasn’t someone just being friendly. This was an employee, in America, working for an American company, and serving American customers. English is the priority language here, and should be used when addressing customers. Should she go around saying “Shalom” to customers?

 

[bendog]

This wasn’t someone just being friendly. This was an employee, in America, working for an American company, and serving American customers. English is the priority language here, and should be used when addressing customers. Should she go around saying “Shalom” to customers?

Why would that be a problem?

 

[Lisa558]

Why would that be a problem?

Because English is the primary language in this country, and it is ridiculous for employees in America to choose foreign languages with which to open a conversation with Americans.

 

[bendog]

naw if somebody goes allah akbar, probably you should run away as fast as possible, even thought the phrase can have be used in several ways.

 

[Mr Natural]

Because English is the primary language in this country, and it is ridiculous for employees in America to choose foreign languages with which to open a conversation with Americans.

Maybe she mistook you for a Latina.

 

[bendog]

Because English is the primary language in this country, and it is ridiculous for employees in America to choose foreign languages with which to open a conversation with Americans.

Perhaps they would be expressing a wish for you, but with no intent to start a conversation.
meshugana

 

[ABikerSailor]

This wasn’t someone just being friendly. This was an employee, in America, working for an American company, and serving American customers. English is the priority language here, and should be used when addressing customers. Should she go around saying “Shalom” to customers?

Actually, it WAS someone being friendly who happened to be a store employee (and most stores like it when their employees are friendly towards customers). Buenos Dias is the same as saying Good Afternoon, and yes, it IS a friendly greeting. And, like you said in your story, she spoke English to you after you gave her a blank stare. I'm pretty sure that if you had just said "hi" in a friendly voice, or "good afternoon" perhaps, she would have still spoke to you in English. I'm also pretty sure that even if you had responded with "buenos dias" she would have still responded in English. Sorry that you're so butt hurt about that, but like I said, to me it's pretty much a non issue. You sound like a big baby for bitching about it. As far as someone saying "shalom" to me? Since I have had several Jewish friends and know that is a friendly greeting, I wouldn't be offended by it, nor would I think it's an issue.

Now, if she had said "que pasa pindehja (the masculine form being pindeho)", THEN you would have something to bitch about, as that is saying "what's up asshole". The literal translation is "what's up pubic hair", meaning they think you are a kid who thinks they are all grown up because they have pubic hair and not worthy of respect.

 

[Lisa558]

naw if somebody goes allah akbar, probably you should run away as fast as possible, even thought the phrase can have be used in several ways.

Yeah, that would make me worry.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Because English is the primary language in this country, and it is ridiculous for employees in America to choose foreign languages with which to open a conversation with Americans.

Thanks for saying primary and not official. While English is the primary language, it is NOT the official language. The USA is only a handful of countries in the world without an official language. And, by the way, there are roughly 350 different languages spoken in this country, with English and Spanish being the most prevalent. If America did have an official language, then MAYBE you would have room to bitch.

Languages of the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Although the United States does not have an official language, the most commonly used language is English (specifically, American English), which is the de facto national language, and the only one spoken at home by approximately 78% of the U.S. population.[5] Many other languages are also spoken at home, especially Spanish (13.4% of the population), according to the American Community Survey (ACS) of the U.S. Census Bureau; these include indigenous languages and languages brought to the U.S. by people from Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, the majority of speakers of these languages are bilingual and also speak English. Although 21.6% of U.S. residents report that they speak a language other than English at home, only 8.4% speak English less than "very well."[6] Several other languages, notably creoles and sign languages, have developed in the United States. Approximately 430 languages are spoken or signed by the population, of which 177 are indigenous to the area. Fifty-two languages formerly spoken in the country's territory are now extinct.[7]

It's also patently obvious to even the most casual observer that you don't know, or have forgotten that America is the world's melting pot of people.

 

[Lisa558]

Actually, it WAS someone being friendly who happened to be a store employee (and most stores like it when their employees are friendly towards customers). Buenos Dias is the same as saying Good Afternoon, and yes, it IS a friendly greeting. And, like you said in your story, she spoke English to you after you gave her a blank stare. I'm pretty sure that if you had just said "hi" in a friendly voice, or "good afternoon" perhaps, she would have still spoke to you in English. I'm also pretty sure that even if you had responded with "buenos dias" she would have still responded in English. Sorry that you're so butt hurt about that, but like I said, to me it's pretty much a non issue. You sound like a big baby for bitching about it. As far as someone saying "shalom" to me? Since I have had several Jewish friends and know that is a friendly greeting, I wouldn't be offended by it, nor would I think it's an issue.

Now, if she had said "que pasa pindehja (the masculine form being pindeho)", THEN you would have something to bitch about, as that is saying "what's up asshole". The literal translation is "what's up pubic hair", meaning they think you are a kid who thinks they are all grown up because they have pubic hair and not worthy of respect.

Look. We disagree. English is the unifying language that everyone knows how to speak (or they should, if they’ve decided to move to an English-speaking country). Having different pockets of people who don’t speak the common language of America divides even further, and we shouldn’t be encouraging it by having American employees open a conversation with American customers in a foreign language.

Even the quote you included said that English is the de facto national language. It should be used by staff in addressing customers until and unless the customer indicates he or she prefers a different language.

 

[ABikerSailor]

naw if somebody goes allah akbar, probably you should run away as fast as possible, even thought the phrase can have be used in several ways.

Depends on the context of the conversation for me. If the person is Muslim and has just had a new addition to their family , or they won the lottery, they are just saying "God is great", and praising Him for their good fortune.

However.............................

If they are running or walking quickly towards me with a murderous gleam in their eye, that would be my signal to vacate the area quickly or take a defensive position and hope I'm strong enough to win.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Look. We disagree. English is the unifying language that everyone knows how to speak (or they should, if they’ve decided to move to an English-speaking country). Having different pockets of people who don’t speak the common language of America divides even further, and we shouldn’t be encouraging it by having American employees open a conversation with American customers in a foreign language.

You might have a point if English was the official language of this country, but it's not, as the US doesn't have an official language.

By the way...................as far as a "unifying language", did you know that English is the language used for most airline pilots to communicate with each other? And, interestingly enough, in most foreign countries, just about 80 percent of the people over there speak English in addition to their own. I learned that if I was talking to someone in a foreign country and using a phrase book to communicate in their language, they would let me fumble around for around 30 sec. or so, then stop me and tell me they spoke English. Most welcomed the opportunity to hone their English speaking skills, but if you first asked if they spoke English, you'd get a blank stare, even if they did. They appreciated the fact that I tried to use their language first.

 

[Lisa558]

Depends on the context of the conversation for me. If the person is Muslim and has just had a new addition to their family , or they won the lottery, they are just saying "God is great", and praising Him for their good fortune.

However.............................

If they are running or walking quickly towards me with a murderous gleam in their eye, that would be my signal to vacate the area quickly or take a defensive position and hope I'm strong enough to win.

But why would they use that phrase when speaking to an American? I don’t go around saying Shehiyanu to people I don’t know when I’m celebrating an occasion.

 

[Lisa558]

You might have a point if English was the official language of this country, but it's not, as the US doesn't have an official language.

But America does have a de facto national language, which should be the default in American stores, by American staff, to American customers. Try as they might, liberals are NOT going to make Spanish on par with English in this country by opening conversations with customers in Spanish.