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And to only speak Murcan in front of him. (He's worried that they'll talk about him, apparently. Like any boss has ever stopped that.)
*snort* If you apply for the job of manager in *my* town (which is about as far from the Mexican border as you can get west of the Mississippi, absent Alaskistan) and you *cannot* speak Spanish, you will not get the job, period, paragraph, NEXT! Taos? Hell. Most gringos in NM *grow up* speaking Spanish. I have a good friend who's a rare exception.
There is a phrase in the South, where both I and the gentleman in question come from. "Y'aint from around heah, are ye, boy?" Don't care of NM is technicaly south of the Macy-Dixie line, it ain't nothing like Virginia. Bin there, Dun that.
Our *ahem* friend here needs a copy of Rosetta Stone and a clue-bat up'side the head.
There is a phrase in the South, where both I and the gentleman in question come from. "Y'aint from around heah, are ye, boy?" Don't care of NM is technicaly south of the Macy-Dixie line, it ain't nothing like Virginia. Bin there, Dun that.
Our *ahem* friend here needs a copy of Rosetta Stone and a clue-bat up'side the head.
This guy is so out of touch he was probably despised by his classmates when he was a child, and almost certainly by those he served with in the military. How sad that the hotel employees were put through this. I hope they get a better owner, with some modicum of cultural competency. He's made pretty much anyone who follows look good.
Bet the business schools make this situation into a case study in doing everything wrong.
Bet the business schools make this situation into a case study in doing everything wrong.
He banned speaking Spanish because he thought they were talking about him? What is he, twelve?
...and yet in my anecdotal experience, that comes up a *lot* when people flip out about immigrants speaking their native language. "If they weren't talking about me, they'd speak English..."
My thought precisely. It says a lot about him that he didn't seem to think that him learning Spanish was any part of the solution. Heck, if I were in his situation, I don't think I'd try for fluency; I think I'd just try to get a basic vocabulary together ... and I'd find someone who could fill me in on the most common insult words. Then I'd practice. If he's really worried about employees being sneaky around him in Spanish, he could probably get away with mastering a few good boss-to-employee type phrases to use.
Sad thing is, his tactics might actually have helped the business.
I've worked in a hotel. That said:
I actually understand the "Speak English on the job" - language barrier and exclusion suck and make it really hard to do the job.
The name thing was STUPID. Beyond words stupid.
That said: No one sells a hotel if it's making money, and if they've been through FIVE owners they are having a systemic problem from management all the way down. Truthfully? They need to "close for renovations" and let everyone go and re-hire. (That's what should have happened with the hotel I worked at - it hasn't made money in YEARS!) But they won't.
I actually understand the "Speak English on the job" - language barrier and exclusion suck and make it really hard to do the job.
The name thing was STUPID. Beyond words stupid.
That said: No one sells a hotel if it's making money, and if they've been through FIVE owners they are having a systemic problem from management all the way down. Truthfully? They need to "close for renovations" and let everyone go and re-hire. (That's what should have happened with the hotel I worked at - it hasn't made money in YEARS!) But they won't.
Truthfully? He shouldn't CARE if they're talking about him. But if he does he should learn it but not tell anyone.
"What kind of fool or idiot or poor businessman would I be to orchestrate this whole crazy thing that's costed me a lot of time, money and aggravation?" Whitten said.
This is a question which contains its own answer, methinks.
This is a question which contains its own answer, methinks.
"Well, we weren't talking about you, but we are now."
Well, I know where to avoid the next time I'm on a concom.
My grandfather was from Norway & came here with his best friend. (I even have a copy of the page from Ellis island) they got a job together working on a farm in North Dakota where half of the other field hands were also Scandahoovien. The farmer who owned the place was second generation or later & only spoke English (what do you call someone who only speaks one language? - American)& he was also concerned that the field hands were secretly talking about him when they spoke their native tongue. Bestafar always said that they didn't until forbidden to speak anything but English. Rather they talked about what they were doing, the pretty girls in town, the weather & all of the normal things field hands will talk about when together.
My grandfather was from Norway & came here with his best friend. (I even have a copy of the page from Ellis island) they got a job together working on a farm in North Dakota where half of the other field hands were also Scandahoovien. The farmer who owned the place was second generation or later & only spoke English (what do you call someone who only speaks one language? - American)& he was also concerned that the field hands were secretly talking about him when they spoke their native tongue. Bestafar always said that they didn't until forbidden to speak anything but English. Rather they talked about what they were doing, the pretty girls in town, the weather & all of the normal things field hands will talk about when together.
LOL, because there's absolutely no reason to speak any other language. Certainly not because you can actually communicate quickly and easily in your first language, and you have, y'know, work to do.
I was a barista for a small business one summer, and we worked with a guy from Venezuela. He could speak English but pretty slowly and had a hard time understanding it, especially with all the noise. I'm bilingual in Spanish and English, and at first the boss asked us to speak only in English (he thought it looked unprofessional to speak in Spanish). That lasted all of three days - we wasted so much time trying to speak slowly and clearly and repeat everything three or four times that the boss asked us to go back to Spanish.
I was a barista for a small business one summer, and we worked with a guy from Venezuela. He could speak English but pretty slowly and had a hard time understanding it, especially with all the noise. I'm bilingual in Spanish and English, and at first the boss asked us to speak only in English (he thought it looked unprofessional to speak in Spanish). That lasted all of three days - we wasted so much time trying to speak slowly and clearly and repeat everything three or four times that the boss asked us to go back to Spanish.
I see nothing wrong with requiring employees to know how to speak English. If I'm a customer and I have a problem with my room, I shouldn't have to go through several employees to find one who understands the words coming out of my mouth. (To paraphrase a Jackie Chan movie.) It's happened to me before. I would go into a room that was dirty and the maids would claim not to know English. Likewise the employer and employee need to be able to communicate with each other clearly. (Actually I wondered if they claimed not to speak English to avoid doing their jobs.) If the employer chooses English, then the employees should be able to understand it.
Now he seems to be doing it out of paranoia which is just dumb. Employees are going to talk about their bosses regardless of language. We're not going to talk about him when he's around. And westernizeing names went out when Ellis Island closed.
I'm going to separate from my usual liberal beliefs and say that if you're going to live in a country it's your responsibility to learn the dominate language, the language most people speak including the President. I saw the ESL section of my local library, the materials were hardly used despite being several years old. There's no excuse for that and the fact that so many people can live out their lives in America and never speak English is a tragedy that cheapens all of us because they've cut themselves off from most Americans. (Note, I'm not restricting this to Hispanics. I was in Chicago's Greektown once and met an old man who lived in Chicago for most of his life and the only English he spoke was insults.)
Now he seems to be doing it out of paranoia which is just dumb. Employees are going to talk about their bosses regardless of language. We're not going to talk about him when he's around. And westernizeing names went out when Ellis Island closed.
I'm going to separate from my usual liberal beliefs and say that if you're going to live in a country it's your responsibility to learn the dominate language, the language most people speak including the President. I saw the ESL section of my local library, the materials were hardly used despite being several years old. There's no excuse for that and the fact that so many people can live out their lives in America and never speak English is a tragedy that cheapens all of us because they've cut themselves off from most Americans. (Note, I'm not restricting this to Hispanics. I was in Chicago's Greektown once and met an old man who lived in Chicago for most of his life and the only English he spoke was insults.)
Ah, yes, polling places and my name. One of the reasons I pretty much vote exclusively by mail now that I don't need to come up with a "valid reason" for voting absentee anymore.
The story states that he lived in Texas for 24 years. Dude, learn Spanish! At least enough to convey basic information and recognize the gist of a conversation.
I work in the construction industry, and there are several variants on "Spanish for Contractors" out there. Teaches basic phrases and grammar so you can communicate with the large number of immigrants who work in the field. I've thought about getting one myself.
That being said we have two Russian speakers in our warehouse. They take obvious delight in talking about you in Russian right in front of you. All in fun, and I keep threatening to learn Russian just so I can join in.
I work in the construction industry, and there are several variants on "Spanish for Contractors" out there. Teaches basic phrases and grammar so you can communicate with the large number of immigrants who work in the field. I've thought about getting one myself.
That being said we have two Russian speakers in our warehouse. They take obvious delight in talking about you in Russian right in front of you. All in fun, and I keep threatening to learn Russian just so I can join in.
I see nothing wrong with requiring employees to know how to speak English.
But that's not what he did. What he did was forbid them to speak anything but English on the job, even with each other, which has nothing at all to do with any of the valid points you make.
But that's not what he did. What he did was forbid them to speak anything but English on the job, even with each other, which has nothing at all to do with any of the valid points you make.
To which my response is, "You think they don't have anything in their lives to talk about but YOU? Conceited much?"
Actually, this strikes me as the same class of argument as, "If you're worried about the government invading your privacy, it must be because you have something to hide."
Actually, this strikes me as the same class of argument as, "If you're worried about the government invading your privacy, it must be because you have something to hide."
It says a lot about him that he didn't seem to think that him learning Spanish was any part of the solution.
That's white privilege pure and simple. Why should HE have to learn peon language, it's up to THEM to learn HIS! I'll bet you a dinner that he also hates bilingual signs and is one of the "English-only" types.
I live in Texas. If I were a manager of a business, you'd better believe I'd be taking a course in conversational Spanish! But that's because I see people who speak Spanish as people, not one-step-up-from-slaves droids.
That's white privilege pure and simple. Why should HE have to learn peon language, it's up to THEM to learn HIS! I'll bet you a dinner that he also hates bilingual signs and is one of the "English-only" types.
I live in Texas. If I were a manager of a business, you'd better believe I'd be taking a course in conversational Spanish! But that's because I see people who speak Spanish as people, not one-step-up-from-slaves droids.
Woah there. You're going by some completely off-the-wall assumptions.
First of all, the people we're talking about here probably all speak and read English just fine. Most, if not all of them, were likely born in the USA. However, Spanish is the first language in their local communities just as it has been for nearly 500 years.
They're not immigrants to the area; the hotel owner is. New Mexico has a very different cultural mix than what we're used to in other parts of the US. Hispanic culture is very much a part of that, and to locals, the Spanish language does not carry the same connotations as it does in places where most Spanish-speakers are immigrants from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, or other Central or Latin American countries.
I lived in Albuquerque for a few years as a child, and I remember being completely confused when my family moved elsewhere and I first saw animosity toward Latinos. My family is white and non-Hispanic, but I had been acculturated to think of an Hispanic background as something people were proud of.
First of all, the people we're talking about here probably all speak and read English just fine. Most, if not all of them, were likely born in the USA. However, Spanish is the first language in their local communities just as it has been for nearly 500 years.
They're not immigrants to the area; the hotel owner is. New Mexico has a very different cultural mix than what we're used to in other parts of the US. Hispanic culture is very much a part of that, and to locals, the Spanish language does not carry the same connotations as it does in places where most Spanish-speakers are immigrants from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, or other Central or Latin American countries.
I lived in Albuquerque for a few years as a child, and I remember being completely confused when my family moved elsewhere and I first saw animosity toward Latinos. My family is white and non-Hispanic, but I had been acculturated to think of an Hispanic background as something people were proud of.
Edited 2009-10-26 18:17 (UTC)
The Virginia-born Whitten had spent 40 years in the hotel business, turning around more than 20 hotels in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and South Carolina, before moving with his wife to Taos from Abilene, Texas.
Ahhh....now I understand.
Ahhh....now I understand.
He think Hispanic names are too difficult for people to deal with in New Mexico? El hombre es muy estúpido. I'm thinking that even out-of-towners will expect people in the Southwest to be Hispanic and have, y'know, Hispanic names.
Right there with you. I'm a Texan myself, and while I don't have any professional incentive to learn Spanish right now, I've picked up the odd phrase here and there, thanks in part to the bilingual signs we have all over the greater Austin area and my (distant and rudimentary) elementary school lessons. If I were a manager of Spanish-speaking employees, I'd consider that a professional incentive to learn: not so much because I was afraid about what they might say about me, but because it would make my job easier.
(As it is, I've had professional incentive to stay fairly brushed up on German, and on dealing with words deriving from Latin and Greek. Being an English chauvinist would hurt me in a big way.)
(As it is, I've had professional incentive to stay fairly brushed up on German, and on dealing with words deriving from Latin and Greek. Being an English chauvinist would hurt me in a big way.)
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