Wednesday, May 19, 2004

For English, Press '1'

From the Cybercast News Service:
Two politicians in Maryland are now in trouble for stating the obvious: People who work in customer service should speak English. And out-of-control multiculturalism is to blame for the failure to preserve America's common language.

The professional victims are up in arms as usual-demanding apologies, whining to the press and clamoring for government subsidies to nurse their hurt feelings. But for once, the truth-tellers refuse to back down. They are role models for the rest of the nation's spine-deprived public officials.

It all started a few weeks ago when former Gov. William Donald Schaefer walked into a McDonald's restaurant he had frequented regularly for years. Schaefer, a Democrat who now works as comptroller under Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, ordered the same thing every morning: hot tea and a biscuit.

After encountering difficulty with a newly hired worker with poor English skills, he quit going to the restaurant out of frustration. "I don't want to adjust to another language," he declared publicly. "This is the United States. I think they should adjust to us."

Matt's Chat

GRRRRRRRRRRRR! For you locals, you know this has hit on an exposed nerve. Those of you out there in the blogosphere have just discovered one of my biggest pet-peeves.

I have no problem with immigrants. We are, afterall, a nation of castoffs. Americans should be proud of that heritage. I draw the line at expecting to learn Spanish so I can get what I came for. And I really don't think it is appropriate for me to have to tell somebody (or some machine) that I speak English (or 'Merican as I like to call it).

This is a land of great opportunity. It doesn't take much to prosper in this country. All I ask is that immigrants at least attempt to learn the language. I wouldn't move to Germany and expect the entire nation speak English, why should Mexicans move here and expect us to speak Spanish? THEY CAME HERE. Not the other way around.

Learn it. Love it. Be it.

Mark's Remarks


While I can understand the need for diversity and remembering one's heritage, people need to learn to speak the language of doing business here in the United States. In other nations, such as nations in Africa, China, Japan; English is required to be learned....except in the United States itself. Here, we bend over backwards to create some weird experiment of Babel, where everyone is speaking different languages, and English is fading to the back. Why? Most of the world realizes that essentially, English is the official world language. Shouldn't those who LIVE in the United States use it themselves?

Even Ghana has made English its official language and required to be taught and used. Yet, in a most ridiculous show of political correctness, God forbid WE in the US should make anyone learn basically the official world language.....

They should adjust to us...Darn right....Look at history. Immigrants who came here learned the language and the culture, and they struggled, mightily. However, through that struggling, they valued what they had and they fought to grow and become valuable members of society. All I am seeing lately is a ridiculous sense of entitlement from immigrants: The US should adjust to me.' Give me a break. Why, because you came here illegally? Why, because you flout breaking our laws? Is that why we should adjust to you? Shows how virulent and ridiculous the liberal ideology is, doesn't it?