Please Press 1 for Intolerance
I guess part of my frustration with today’s topic lies heavily in the fact that I once believed as many others have been drumming up lately on my Facebook wall and other locations (some segments of the Tea Party, Republican Party) that this country should be an English country.
Of course, didn’t we win some war back in the latter half of the 1700′s to NOT be, and repeated parts some years later?
Yeah, I know, I’m simplifying, but it also seems that these people are simple minded and refuse to adapt to new realities, which is part of the freedom AND responsibility of being a citizen of this country. And yeah, as a citizen you DO have responsibilities here, it is not a free ride.
I know the reality here is that many folks want something done about our very porous border to the south, and would rather take harsher steps to discourage those who are trying to get it to continue to do so. I get it. I want it too, because it is very apparent that the leadership of this country (consisting of both major parties) is really not interested in solving the issue. It should be no surprise that states heavily affected by this inaction are now trying to do something to discourage this, even with their more limited purview. If I lived there, I’d be pushing hard too.
What bothers me, besides the federal inaction, is the gross intolerance and ignorance exhibited by many in response to the problem. I have family and friends who are screaming about having to press 1 for English on the automated phone systems, and who see the area I live in and get frustrated because they cannot read some of the signs (significant Korean population here). You know what folks? They have the right to put their language on their signs. They are most interested in dealing with folks from their community, so they choose to market themselves exclusively that way. You don’t like it? Don’t buy the services or products. And that’s part of the choice those business owners’ make: the people who don’t speak the language are unlikely to use them. That’s the trade off. This has been the case for centuries in this country, this continent, and really, most of the world. And the businesses that only deal in English make a similar choice.
That’s how things currently run, and I hope, will always run. Why do I hope this? Because the simple truth is from a business perspective, there will come a point your business will not be able to expand if you don’t take steps to become MORE inclusive. That means the business needs to adapt, and what that means is it will have to gain the capability to handle multiple languages. Yes, that will add some cost, but the ability to handle more business will win out. That means customers will get better service since it will be in a language they can understand.
I also think a lot of this is the nosiness of Americans when dealing with other folks. For some reason, everyone wants to know everyone else’s business (see the tabloids and “news”papers), and if they can’t understand the language, they get upset. Stop obsessing about other people’s business already!
And for those of you who are just really tired of pressing 1 for English, your anger is misplaced. Blame the automated systems for support lines and businesses using them, not the immigrants coming (legal or otherwise) in. Even if the immigrants were not here, or if they all spoke English, you’d still be pressing buttons. Get over yourselves, or target the real problem.
The first amendment protects free speech. That not only means a free press, and your ability to protest issues (and I’m not telling you you can’t be upset here, just to reevaluate what you are upset over), but also the freedom for people to speak in languages they know. Besides, English has remained the dominant language in this country for hundreds of years not because of a legal requirement, but because the immigrants who worked hard to better their lives and those of their families found it useful to learn it. Italian, Polish, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, what have you: they’ve been spoken here along with English for a long time. Yet most of us don’t speak these. Some have even been here in this country LONGER than English.
Learn to adapt, learn a new language and have a better voice in the dialogue.
Tags: america, immigration, intolerance, society