English Only Please . . .

[Torn blue sky]

I find myself agreeing with a lot of people here. At the end of the day though I still can\'t understand where all the bullshit stems from. Look at it objectivly right? I\'m in a foreighn country traveling, damn...i\'m hungry. Ok i\'ll hit up this shop here and get some food. Hmmm wait a sec , why\'s this guy being an asshole?

That\'s what I would think and yeah i\'d be pissed. When it comes down to it it\'s just common courtesy. I don\'t give a f**k about reicheous ideals and moral crusading when it\'s really down to treating other people with respect. I think some people read WAY too deeply into scenarios. And if you really want to get into an argument about it, go talk to a local Native American tribe in their own lost tongues. I\'m sure they\'ll be too happy to tell you all about yourself...That is if theres still any Natives near you.

 

[Ebonbuddha]

I wish Americans still spoke English. I mean British style. I love the way it sounds.

The guy didn\'t so anything that bad. It isn\'t even offensive. I think people have forgotten what truely is offensive.

Originally posted by Dragonsreach
Oh the irony of an American stating \"English Only\".
We have had so many fun discussions on here about what the American version of English has become.

Tongue once again in cheek.

 

[Evil Dave]

Originally posted by farseerlum

Originally posted by Evil Dave
Well, let\'s be honest here, Legal Immigrants are required to have a certain level of skill with the English language.
This sign is aimed at Illegal Immigrants, who IMHO, don\'t have a right to complain.

yes because there is no reason to be in america unless you live there.

Illegally? No.

 

[Evil Dave]

Originally posted by farseerlum

Originally posted by beowulfthehunter
I heard this story on Glen Beck tonight and I was right on with what was said. All ow me to unload with my opinion. I am going to use words that offend. So be prepared.

Back when great grandpappy Beo came over on the boat from Ireland. He was greeted with \"Welcome to the USA now learn the language you Mick Bastard.\" And you know what, he did. He assimlated into the culture. Sure he had to work jobs he did not want to do, sure he had to put uo with business that would not hire Irish, but he made his life.

Now lets fast forward a fewyears. I can no longer say \"Beaner, learn the damn language!\" I can\'t say\"We don\'t hire Mexicans.\" Hell just for typing it I am going to be given a warning. What changed? Well first enter Political Correctness and Civil Rights. Combine that with us as a nation lowering the bar (Don\'t get me started on No Child Left Behind) and you have a race of people who do not have to assimlate, intstead we are bending over bacwards for these people and if we don\'t we get sued, arrested, or labeld as being a racist.

What should happen, well first they get jobs doing what we do not want to do (Facotry work, Lawn work, Dishwashing), then they learn the language, and assimilate into our society, we accept them, they work thier way up and become part of the American culture. The whole cycle then starts with another ethnic group.

Ready your History book, that is what the American Expereince is. People come here for a start at something great, but you never get great by lowering the bar.

this is of course utter bullshite.

it works only for white people. it sure as hell doesn\'t work for the people brought to your country at gunpoint to work for you. it doesn\'t seem to work for people who colonised differnt parts of your country at the same time and it won\'t work for the new guys either.

the first lot there didn\'t force you to talk their lingo did they?

Hmmm...and the Aborigines were treated so well then, right?

I can say with certainty that no one here or even alive today had anything to do with \"bringing anyone over by gunpoint\" if you want to go and point fingers you might as well go back to the Romans, it would be just as relevant and just as impossible to change.

 

[airhead]

I wonder what England would do with an invasion of illeagle (say) French who work cheep but refuse to learn English and openly say that they are going to keep coming across the boarder until they take over the country.

Finally one shop keeper has enough of it and says \"orders are to be taken in English only\". Not aimed at the tourist, but at his cook and dishwasher and their 10 kids each all on welfare, but not paying any taxes.

But to get rid of his cook & dishwasher, he would have to hire a legal employee and pay an additional 40% in taxes to employ this person instead of paying his illegal worker under the table. And just to make it fun, the legal person would only make about 70% of what the illegal did because of the taxes taken out of his check.

 

[CrookedEye]

Originally posted by farseerlum

Originally posted by beowulfthehunter
I heard this story on Glen Beck tonight and I was right on with what was said. All ow me to unload with my opinion. I am going to use words that offend. So be prepared.

Back when great grandpappy Beo came over on the boat from Ireland. He was greeted with \"Welcome to the USA now learn the language you Mick Bastard.\" And you know what, he did. He assimlated into the culture. Sure he had to work jobs he did not want to do, sure he had to put uo with business that would not hire Irish, but he made his life.

Now lets fast forward a fewyears. I can no longer say \"Beaner, learn the damn language!\" I can\'t say\"We don\'t hire Mexicans.\" Hell just for typing it I am going to be given a warning. What changed? Well first enter Political Correctness and Civil Rights. Combine that with us as a nation lowering the bar (Don\'t get me started on No Child Left Behind) and you have a race of people who do not have to assimlate, intstead we are bending over bacwards for these people and if we don\'t we get sued, arrested, or labeld as being a racist.

What should happen, well first they get jobs doing what we do not want to do (Facotry work, Lawn work, Dishwashing), then they learn the language, and assimilate into our society, we accept them, they work thier way up and become part of the American culture. The whole cycle then starts with another ethnic group.

Ready your History book, that is what the American Expereince is. People come here for a start at something great, but you never get great by lowering the bar.

this is of course utter bullshite.

it works only for white people. it sure as hell doesn\'t work for the people brought to your country at gunpoint to work for you. it doesn\'t seem to work for people who colonised differnt parts of your country at the same time and it won\'t work for the new guys either

Gotta disagree with you there, the Asian and Indian transplants are some of the most prosperous in America, both have median incomes and levels of education than your average \"white\" American. It\'s never easy for any group trying to integrate into a new society.

Zach

 

[Torn blue sky]

Erm , sorry man, but indians and pakistani people are flocking over here in droves, not to mention others. The others arent so bad, but the central asian persuasion are saying exactly that \"we\'re taking over\".
I\'m not gonna lie and say it doesn\'t piss me off, but you can\'t tar everyone with the same brush. I\'m sure some people ARE here to escape something or other. All i\'m hearing are arguments to justify generaly disliking people, and it sucks.

 

[airhead]

TBS, I have no problem with any tourist or legal immigrant. I\'ve worked with lots. They tend to be industrious and want to become part of society.

The illegals have openly said they intend to take over. They - being illegal - do not pay taxes, yet create a burden on the system - schools, medicine, etc. Some of the more liberal politicians are trying to figure out how to get them drivers licences instead of getting them into our system.

We seem to be bending over backwards to accomodate these people that have no desire to become a part of the US.

If I went to Italy to work, I would think I would need to learn Italian? If I went to France - French? Germany - German? If I went to any of these places to work, would I also not need a work visa?

Why shouldn\'t these workers be expected to speek a bit of English? and have a Visa?

 

[CaptNarcissisto]

I don\'t think people here blame the illegals on an individual basis, but as a huge group of people it has become a serious problem. We have a population of around 300 million, and about 35-40 million illegals (who don\'t pay enough taxes, send most of the money they make back to their home countries, and often bring violence and crime (MS-13 for one) as well). So 11-13% of our population is illegal.

Just for arguments sake: according to my brief research the UK has about 500,000 illegals, and a population of around 60 million. Up the illegal immigrant number to 7-8 million and then they\'d have the same issues proportionately. And most of the illegals here are from 3rd world countries in South America, so say you had 8 million illegals in the UK from 3rd world countries in Africa (about the same distance U.S-South America vs UK-Africa). I somehow think the tolerance of alot of average people in the UK would dissapear with a massive spike in crime, less jobs, more burden on the government, with less taxes coming in, etc... (For Australians just think 2.5 million from East Africa or India)

As for the Native American issue; it was a sorry tragedy, and our country has to remember what happened, and can only move on from it (no one alive for generations contributed to the genocide). But people seem to conveniently forget that Americans as a people did not settle the New World, but the English, French, Spanish, and Portugese commited genocide here wiping out civilizations in America as well.

 

[Torn blue sky]

I\'m not saying people shouldn\'t try to addapt to the surroundings they\'re trying to fit into. Thats just common sense.
Going back to the sign though, it was generally targeted at the public in general.
If someone can\'t be arsed learning even a modicum of the language of the country they want to settle in then why bother at all in my mind? I\'m not dancing to someone elses tune, but there has to be a measure of tolerance in place at least.

 

[finn17]

Originally posted by reverend
They raped our country of minerals for wealth and paid us f*ck all. But that\'s the way things work.

Yeah! But \'they\' did that to \'us\' too. It\'s a class thing not a national thing IMO

 

[supervike]

Can I just get a fraking Cheese steak sandwich please!!!

 

[Evil Dave]

Originally posted by Torn blue sky
I\'m not dancing to someone elses tune, but there has to be a measure of tolerance in place at least.

Ah... but true tolerance would be to accept the owner\'s intolerance, No?

\"I have seen gross intolerance shown in support of tolerance”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

[laurence]

Ordeals & Culture shock..

Forgive my crazy title for this post. On a more serious note though, where\'s our humanity gone? These people have had to leave so much behind in hope for a better existence. Escaping turmoil, war, harsh conditions or whatever to start a new life in another, often surreal environment must be such a huge ordeal for citizens of this globe. We all share the same planet - so it\'s mad to blame other countries, religions, yada-yada for this mess. We\'re all in the same boat together. Woo - I realise I just strayed from what I wanted to say... Here goes - If people have made a (often life-threatening) move to get over to the land of milk & honey and change it all. Learning a new language is probably one of those things that is way down the list. Shite - re-building a life must be hard! But hey - what does this little middle-class white-boy know???

Over and out..

 

[laurence]

How would you like it done?

Originally posted by supervike
Can I just get a fraking Cheese steak sandwich please!!!

I can get you a Chinese steak sandwich.
How\'d you like it? Rare, medium or well done? Or would you like it Chicago well done?

Bon Appetite .

 

[Evil Dave]

Originally posted by laurence
If people have made a (often life-threatening) move to get over to the land of milk & honey and change it all. Learning a new language is probably one of those things that is way down the list. Shite - re-building a life must be hard!

Funny, if I were moving to another country to start over, learning the local language (and customs) would be the first thing I do, as to make the re-building of my life far, far easier.

 

[Beelzebrush]

Originally posted by finn17

Originally posted by reverend
They raped our country of minerals for wealth and paid us f*ck all. But that\'s the way things work.

Yeah! But \'they\' did that to \'us\' too. It\'s a class thing not a national thing IMO

lol

And they still seem to be doing it.... only with a tad more subtlety

 

[squidders]

I blame farming.

 

[NINJAWIZARD]

Originally posted by Evil Dave

Originally posted by laurence
If people have made a (often life-threatening) move to get over to the land of milk & honey and change it all. Learning a new language is probably one of those things that is way down the list. Shite - re-building a life must be hard!

Funny, if I were moving to another country to start over, learning the local language (and customs) would be the first thing I do, as to make the re-building of my life far, far easier.

Yeah, but, Dave, that requires effort... it\'s much easier to just leech off of everyone else, and the government of the country you\'re moving to.

</sarcasm>

 

[laurence]

Good point...

Originally posted by Evil Dave

Originally posted by laurence
If people have made a (often life-threatening) move to get over to the land of milk & honey and change it all. Learning a new language is probably one of those things that is way down the list. Shite - re-building a life must be hard!

Funny, if I were moving to another country to start over, learning the local language (and customs) would be the first thing I do, as to make the re-building of my life far, far easier.

I\'m glad you said that.. I kinda posted on an impulse and didn\'t really think it through. I agree with you. It\'s logical to work at learning the language first. It\'s just that English is such a darn complicated and difficult language to learn from a non-speaking English persons perspective.

Cheers..