Oh, this is rich: "Philadelphia's Geno's Steaks Adopts English-Only Ordering Policy Thursday, June 08, 2006 - PHILADELPHIA " Bistec con queso? Not at Geno's Steaks. An English-only ordering policy has thrust one of Philadelphia's best-known cheesesteak joints into the national immigration debate." Does this mean when a visitor, let's say a tourist, comes into this man's deli, the tourist will be denied service based on his failure to become fluent enough in English to spend a week's vacation in Philadelphia? Let me clue you in on something. When American tourists come to Mexico for any length of time, they expect every single Mexican they meet to speak absolutely fluent English. More cases of The Ugly American Syndrome surface over this issue than any other stimulus, I am convinced. So, this old coot in Philadelphia is explicitly barring all nonEnglish-speaking immigrants and implicitly barring all tourists who just want a bite to eat based on his judgment on what someone should or should not do. The hypocrisy is his fellow American conservatives, who no doubt support this sort of racism, have no qualms when they come to Mexico about not bothering to learn a word of Spanish, either as a tourist, and get this, or as an expatriate. He might as well put out a sign on the door that says "I hate all non-English speakers." because this is what he is implying. "Don't speak a word of English and in Philly for a week's conference with your job? Well, don't count on eating at Geno's. Tough luck there, fella!" The very thing this "gentleman" is demanding of simple non-English speaking tourists, much less expats, he probably would not demand of himself if he came to a non-English speaking country such as Mexico! Out of about one million Americans living in Mexico, few can string two words together in Spanish. Furthermore, many boast of their linguistic inability, telling me that anyone who works for them, in Mexico, has to speak English. They not only do not speak Spanish but also do not care to. If they go into a restaurant in their little American Gringo Bubble/Enclave/Colony, then the staff had better speak English or else. There is a little town not too far from where my wife and I live called San Miguel de Allende. At times, the town's residents invade our city for a change of pace. We caught this woman standing at the entrance of a classy Mexican restaurant screaming, "I know you people speak English and are pretending you don't!" Do you see what I mean? Do you see why I write about this so often in my columns? This hypocrisy galls me to no end, especially given the current American debate about Mexican immigration. Americans will not demand of themselves in other countries what they demand of immigrants who come to America. Now, it appears, they are demanding it of nonEnglish-speaking tourists too. When you read between the lines, what is this saying about Americans? So, let's boycott "Geno's" in Philly, shall we? |
