Viestejä: 31
Kieli: English
andogigi (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 19.19.15
Anyway, I forgot about the controversy surrounding this restaurant from a few years back. The owner put up an "English Only" sign and demands that anyone ordering at his lunch counter do so in English. You can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geno%27s.
I went across the street to "Pat's" and ordered my lunch from them. However, it got me wondering how widespread this phenomenon is becoming? I don't recall ever seeing this in any other English speaking country. I hope this is not an omen of things to come. IMHO the owner must be some kind of mental midget.
qwertz (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 19.44.51
andogigi:I had to drive to South Philadelphia today for work, so I stopped at Geno's to get a cheesesteak sandwich for lunch. (Cheesesteaks are a tradition in Philadelphia and all visitors should try one)Would be not possible in Germany due to historical reasons. The german authority would close this shop due to the press reclaims i.e. Der Spiegel instantly. Or what has been left over by the autononism or black block hooligans. Sorry, but that language racism is not accepted by the peaceable german public anyway.
Anyway, I forgot about the controversy surrounding this restaurant from a few years back. The owner put up an "English Only" sign and demands that anyone ordering at his lunch counter do so in English. You can read about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geno%27s.
I went across the street to "Pat's" and ordered my lunch from them. However, it got me wondering how widespread this phenomenon is becoming? I don't recall ever seeing this in any other English speaking country. I hope this is not an omen of things to come. IMHO the owner must be some kind of mental midget.
andogigi (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 19.52.12
Ironchef (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 19.57.21
andogigi:...The owner put up an "English Only" sign and demands that anyone ordering at his lunch counter do so in English. ...According to Wikipedia, there is no official language in the USA, and Pennsylvania does not (yet) have an "English Only" rule in place. I feel that as long as the customers are not being mistreated along racial, sexual or religious lines there is nothing legally wrong with this. I believe that while a proprietor of a business should be able to enforce certain rules (shirt/shoes rules for example), I don't condone this one; I'm all for multilingualism but those Philly sandwich shops serve a lot of people FAST and hold ups in language could affect their business. I wonder though, how this affects ASL users? He cannot discriminate against the deaf or other people unable to use English because of disability.
qwertz (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 20.27.31
Ironchef:I'm all for multilingualism but those Philly sandwich shops serve a lot of people FAST and hold ups in language could affect their business.incredible: "could affect their business." That can happen in your country dialy life? Pfff! Business first? Some court of your country will sanction: "business first"? No lobby onsite which enforces "take care of human rights"?
Ironchef (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 20.42.21
qwertz:Yes. Business is more important here than individual people. Get people in and out as quick as you can. A happy customer who spends $5 is not as good as 2 miserable customers who spend $5 each! Many businesses think that customers just get in the way. I've worked for companies here that treat the customers like animals. It is sad. I don't think the USA is the only country like this though.
incredible: "could affect their business." That can happen in your country dialy life?
qwertz (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 21.06.32
Ironchef:I've worked for companies here that treat the customers like animals. It is sad. I don't think the USA is the only country like this though.No, I didn't wanna blame somebody. I just was wondering about.
andogigi (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 21.28.34
I just find it hard to believe that boatloads of Philippino's come to South Philadelphia and demand cheesesteaks in Tagalog to such an extent there is a need for this sign. I have a feeling that something more is going on here and I fear it is xenophobic.
qwertz (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 21.38.06
andogigi: I just find it hard to believe that boatloads of Philippino's come to South Philadelphia and demand cheesesteaks in Tagalog to such an extent there is a need for this sign.Somebody from the state-wide newspaper business should check and publish that. That works very well (in Germany)
erinja (Näytä profiilli) 19. maaliskuuta 2010 23.24.43
Ironchef:those Philly sandwich shops serve a lot of people FAST and hold ups in language could affect their business.Basically, the only point of this sandwich shop's sign is to prevent people from ordering in Spanish with Spanish-speaking employees. There is basically no chance of a hoarde of Tagalog speakers coming and expecting to be served in Tagalog.
And there is no point in ordering in Spanish if the staff doesn't speak Spanish.
In addition, if I only speak Spanish fluently, and the staff speaks Spanish, it is QUICKER for me to order in Spanish than for me to struggle through it in English, when the staff could take my order instantaneously in Spanish.
Basically I see this sort of sign as simple racism. If a restaurant worker and a customer both speak Spanish (Tagalog, Chinese, whatever), what's the problem with ordering in Spanish (Tagalog, Chinese, whatever)? And if the workers don't speak that language, then trying to order in it really will not work out for you, regardless of what signs are posted or not posted.