No one speaks english anymore??

Ok, since a lot of people abroad from America probably read this group I'm
going to post it here and hopefully get some good feedback. I was born and
raised on the East Coast of the US. I grew up in not so nice neighborhoods
so I have some street smarts and I'm aware of what's going on out there. I
am not a prejudice person. I've worked since I was legally able to and the
feds have been sucking taxes out of me ever since. I currently live in
Central NJ, where it's busy and crowded. I've realized that most stores,
fast food establishments, gas stations, service companies, anything that's
retail the people that work there do not speak much English. Today I was
shopping and tried to ask some questions about a product that was being
sold. The sales associate had a very strong accent and I couldn't understand
him. He actually got upset with me because I couldn't understand what he was
saying. Another sales associate came over which had an accent himself, but
not as strong as the first guy. The second gentlemen was hard to understand
also. For some reason these two guys got arrogant with me because I couldn't
understand them! I believe it was a Spanish accent. I indicated to them that
I wanted to speak to an English speaking sales associate and they got
offended and tried to play it off that I was prejudice and didn't like
Hispanics. My god, all I wanted was some questions answered about a product.
To my disbelief the store supervisor was understandable, but also had a
heavy accent. Let me ask...is it appropriate for people that do not speak
the English language correctly to insult or be arrogant to some one that
does in an English speaking country? Last time I checked when I saw the
President on TV he was speaking English with no accent. I want to know why
in the hell would these Hispanic employees get mad at me because I don't
understand them? Do they think I'm going to actually learn their language or
feel ashamed that I didn't understand them? I would think they would be
ashamed because they can't speak the English language correctly, buy lemme
tell you...they have no shame whatsoever. This is just one small incident
that happens to me on a daily basis. I refuse to buy fast food at
drive-throughs anymore. If you don't speak Spanish, you'll never get what
you want. When you purchase gasoline (in NJ you can't pump yourself) you
have to tell the attendant 5 times what you want and speak like you are
talking to a 5 year old. I think I'm getting a little frustrated nowadays
that these companies don't care if their employees don't even speak the
language correctly as long as they take the cheapest salary I guess. If I
were to move to another country I would certainly learn and be fluent in
that language and make sure I was ashamed if I couldn't speak it correctly.
I have no sympathy or feelings for these type (not all of them) of people
anymore that don't care.

 

Tha's in't wrong group lad. This has nowt to do
wi' cameras.

 

There are US states with more people speaking spanish than english,
and spanish will probably become the 2nd official language in those
states within a few years, and later your 2nd national language.

Have it from "completely unbiased" american friends from last time I
was in Arnieland.

 

Que? No comprende.

What the hell has this rant got to do with digital photography please?

These days society is multicultural, live with it. It's not only America,
it's here in the UK too. It's everywhere.

 

Let me ask... do they teach people in the US to use paragraphs in
their text?

Frank

 

Frank,
Come to little old England our customer services in banking, insurance and
telephone companies are mainly, or soon going to be, in India.

Where they speak pucker English ( sounds like Welsh accent). The trouble
with this is, they are probably better educated that the people they serve.

They are mainly university graduates and the money they earn is better that
the indigenous work available locally can pay, but its cheaper for our
industries to do this and soon nobody will be working in England.

I feel sorry for them and us as we cant get past them to talk to management
in England and they will have to answer the phone to irate people thousands
of miles away all day every day until they retire.

At least the Americans look after their own, or do they, Is it cheap labour
wage slaves in India and the Hispanics in America that caused them to do
what they end up doing?!

MikeS

 

Well, where to start?

1. Yes, you have a point. We're a great melting pot.
Personally, I don't get upset at all the different cultures, but it is
disturbing that our laws and customs are inconsistent. Witness the
driver's license issue in CA.

2. Doesn't the same thing happen in a lot of big cities around
the world?

3. Admire your comment about learning the language if you moved
somewhere else. Most Americans do not have that attitude.

4. Dubya speaks English??---Not anytime I heard him speak.

5. Finally, please be aware that your written English is not that
great. You have one big run-on paragraph, plus some very clumsy
sentence structures and grammatical errors. You might want to
consider getting your own house in order.
**************************
Mark Herring, Pasadena, Calif.
Private e-mail: Just say no to "No".

 

I wrote that last post in about 3 minutes. I type faster then most
people speak. My grammar was sloppy, but I didn't need to be correct to get
my point across.

I also heard that a Cuban refugee once steps foot on American soil get's
asylum here, $5000 and free healthcare. If this is true, I want some of that
action. When I was born, I didn't get free money and healthcare. My parents
just got a large bill from the hospital. Strange. Maybe I need to move to
Wyoming in the middle of no where. I think I'll be happier there and I'm
sure there's plenty to take pictures of.

Having different cultured people here from other countries is not what
bothers me. I indicated this in my original post. It's the fact that I get
an arrogant attitude and treated badly because I can't understand their
native language.

 

Not too long ago in Miami, Florida, there was a public referendum on making
Spanish the 'first' language in the schools. Will the last American to leave
town please bring the flag.
Joe Arnold

 

Michael wrote:
and you forgot to ask whether they sold digital cameras?

 

The same thing is happening in the states too, ask Michael Moore.

 

And what do people from other cultures not speaking english have to do with
photography?

 

It doesn't matter. Just because the topic is photography doesn't mean we
can't ever talk about some thing else. Many people responded with some good
information and their ideas about the whole thing. It was interesting
reading. Also, don't blame me because you read some thing that didn't have
anything to do with photography. I made sure my subject in the original post
was accurate and you still read it. Not my fault, sorry.

 

I presume by your logic that you should fit in with the people of the land
that you are moving to that you speak Arapaho or Apache?

 

"Que?

 

Dear troll,

I have no idea what newsgroups this rant would be on-topic in, but a
photography group isn't one of them.

Please try harder next time!

Cheers,

Lionel.

 

Que?

 

You think the original post is even slightly on-topic in a photgraphy
newsgroup?

 

Too true. It's very difficult to learn a new language after about 10
years of age or so. I lived for about a year in Hong Kong during the
dotcom boom, & learnt less than a dozen words of Chinese. On the bright
side, I got *really* good at expressing myself with signs, & learnt to
speak English with a Chinese accent, which is vitally important if you
want your cab to end up on the correct side of the island.

I felt much the same way until I found myself in the position of
actually having to do it. I, like most people, am lazy & found it much
simpler to hang out with other English speakers, rather than learn the
local language properly. Since then, I've been much more sypathetic
towards immigrants who find it difficult to pick up English.

Not a thing. I'm guessing that the OP is one of the latest batch of
trolls.

 

Oh dear.
I think you mean 'pukkha', also known in England as 'Bombay Welsh'.

Or even the people they argue with on Usenet.

Hahahaha! - America was the first country to outsource tech-support work
to India.

Greedy bosses, IMO.