Never assume people don't understand you when you say something....( vent )

[Mskanga]

I was at work this morning and I was eating a buttered roll ( the only thing I ate this morning, two women came in, they were speaking Spanish and when I went to wait on them , the one that I was waiting on says to the other one in Spanish, "look at this one, eating and she's getting so fat " ( meaning me, I was the only person eating ) I stared at her and told her in Spanish, "I'd rather be fat than short and rude like you" , you should have seen her face turn red!!! I think steam was coming out of my ears , how rude! I'm not skinny but I am far from being fat plus I'm also tall but regardless you don't make comments like this.:mad: :mad:

[Breezy_Carol]

I love that you could understand and respond to her. Not sure I would have said the same thing but it is easier to come up with a response after the fact than on the spur of the moment.

Did the woman apologize?? How did she respond to you?

[snoopy]

ROFL!!! Oh, I would have loved to have witnessed that. :teeth:

I always wish I spoke Vietnemese so I could bust my manicurist, I know she is talking about me and everyone else in the nail salon. Makes me want to not return.

And having met you, I can definately say you are not fat. You look just right to me.

[Tuffcookie]

I would have loved to have seen her face when you said that!!! Way to go!!!

TC:cool:

[Mskanga]

That woman apologize??? Heck no!! But my pleasure to get back at her and see her blush in embarrasment is enough reward for me!!!
Even if the person was fat or overweight , never in a million years you will hear me making a comment like that.

[Krisu]

Reminds me of a story about my German grandfather. He was not Jewish but had many Jewish friends and spoke fluent Yiddish. On weekends he would go into New Haven to some of the Jewish delis. He wanted a certain type of liver and heard the man working there say to another in Yiddish to just give him the cheapest kind they had. My grandfather then let him have it in Yiddish :D

[Briar Rose 7457]

thanks for the laugh. and the memory.

my grandmother was raised in a town that is now in Poland, but was part of Austria when she was grwoing up. they spoke Yiddish at home, German in school and Polish to their neighbors.

she came to America as a young woman, and stopped using Polish.

many years later, she was in the laundry room of her apartment buillding. she overheard 2 women speaking in Polish. they were gossiping about all of their neighbors. my grandmother understood everything they said.

she walked over to the two women and told them so. she spoke in English, because she no longer remembered how to speak Polish. but when the women didn't believe she understood Polish, she repeated everything that had been said -- but she said it in English.

[Briar Rose 7457]

Originally posted by Krisu
Reminds me of a story about my German grandfather. He was not Jewish but had many Jewish friends and spoke fluent Yiddish. On weekends he would go into New Haven to some of the Jewish delis. He wanted a certain type of liver and heard the man working there say to another in Yiddish to just give him the cheapest kind they had. My grandfather then let him have it in Yiddish :D

my father has blue eyes, and when he was young his hair was very blonde. in his American Army uniform he didn't look "Jewish" at all. he served in Italy during WWII. once, he and two friends were on leave in Switzerland. they wanted to buy watches. the shopkeeper saw three Americans and told his wife (in Yiddish) that he'd jack up the price for the three rich American soldiers. the other two men bought their watches first. then my father spotted a watch with Hebrew characters instead of numbers -- perfect for my grandfather, who was a very religious man. the shopkeeper tried to convince my father that he didn't want the watch. when my father insisted, the shopkeeper spoke to my father in Yiddish."You're Jewish? You understood what I told my wife when you came in? Are you going to tell your friends?" when my father agreed to keep quiet, the shopkeeper gave him a huge discount on the watch.

my father still has that watch today. and it still runs.

[annemariec]

:D Good for you!!!

IMO you did the right thing. Maybe that woman will think twice before she throws out insults about others in such a cowardly way. It's bad enough to say that sort of thing. But to hide behind another language to do it is another story.

Annemarie

[Gail T AGAIN]

some people can Suck! We all live in AMERICA and speak American. They can have another language but among yourselves in your home around your own friends and family. They should go back to the country then came from, This is for sure the land of the free but that does not give them the right to badmouth people that are around them and do it in a language that we do not understand. :D

[Jeff in BigD]

Last night I said not-so nice phrase in French (one of the few I know) & I forgot that my sister understands French...whoops! :eek:

But hey, I did say "excuse my French" :teeth:

[DocRafiki]

Um, no we don't speak American; we speak English (and not that well, I'd say). And they can come here and speak whatever language they want wherever they want.

But they shouldn't say anything in public that they wouldn't say in English. That is strange for someone to assume that no one around speaks Spanish. Surely it's the #1 foreign language taught in our schools. Even if most Americans can't speak a fgn language, most can understand a good bit of Spanish! (well not me, except that monorail spiel :cool: )

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

The same thing happened to me at work.
I had a german couple come to register at the inn.
This was about 2 years ago so it was the summer before my 10th grade year.
I am on my 6th year of taking german so then I had 4 years of it.
They started talking in german about how young I was and that it was immature on the company's part to allow me to work with money, etc. I understood everything.
As they were leaving I said Good bye. I hope you enjoy your trip...in german.
The looks were priceless.

[Mskanga]

The problem with me is that the majority of times people think I'm German ( I'm not, I'm a native of Spain but spent many summers in Spain with my "adoptive" German uncle ) and I guess german still lingers on me.
People never think I'm Spanish , so they assume I don't understand, that's where sometimes people make a mistake.
Never assume anything, and never comment on anyone unless it's something nice!

[Boots]

Way to go!!!!! {{{HUGS}}}

[Keli]

I believe it is rude to speak a foreign language in front of people that cannot speak it themselves unless there is actually a language barrier and you do not know their language and are unable to speak it. A few years ago I went to a church that had a large % of hispanic members so quite a few people spoke spanish although all of them also spoke english. I hated it when I would be working in the kitchen with everyone and they would all be speaking spanish instead of english although they knew that I was unable to understand and join in the conversation. The assistant pastor came in one time and saw what was happening and told his wife (in english) to only speak english while anglos where there and to respond to anyone speaking spanish in english. I was so thankful because after she started doing that everyone would speak english and I could join in the conversation. It was pretty lonely before that.

[cinlee3]

I can understand Spanish, but can't speak it. I would have had to answer in English but I'm sure I wouldn't have the nerve. I bet you surprised them!

My Mom told me a story about when my Great Grandfather brought over his new wife from Norway. He told everyone she couldn't speak English. All the daughters and in-laws sat around talking about her not realizing she could speak and understand English very well.

[Saffron]

Some people are so rude. They should tend to their own business and leave their noses out of other's. I 'm glad you let them know how you felt. :D I saw your pictures from Barb Con. You are no way near fat!!! Silly women. :D

[Serena]

I would have loved to see their faces.

[bfeller]

Oh Mskanga, I am so glad that you are my DISCON buddie. You are my type of girl

[bobcat]

ROTFL at your come back! Bet they will think twice next time.

[missymouse3367]

Wow I really would of loved to see her face.

[disykat]

What they also didn't understand is that even if you didn't speak Spanish you probably would have had a good idea what they were saying!

I can't believe the number of times I have had conversations with people speaking a different language and we've been able to understand each other pretty well. This has happened to me even with friends that are Cambodian - and Khmer has nothing in common with English! I can't imagine anyone speaking Spanish and expecting English speaking people not to have a clue - many people speak Spanish and many who don't are familiar enough with it to listen in a bit.

She deserved a snappy comeback. Good for you!

[PhotobearSam]

GOOD FOR YOU! I'm glad and proud of you for answering.

I grew up in a frech part of Canada called New Brunswick (well my part of NB was french but some part are English)

We speak a cultural slang (made up of old french words and shortened words) and someone from the neighbouring FRENCH province came to my parents restaurant. I was 19 years old and I greeted them when they came in the way I would greet a local because I had no idea that they were from Quebec.

The lady then said to me (in french) "If you can't speak proper FRENCH then don't speak it at all..." I was mad but my parents raised a good girl so I apologized and asked if I could take her order.


After 5 minutes of looking at our menu, (fast food fried chicken and take out pizza) she said "Je veux une pizza all-dressed..." (I would like a pizza with the works) There is nothing wrong with the word Pizza as it is correct to use it in French but the Word ALL-DRESSED was too much for me to take.

I grinned from ear to ear when I responded in very correct French..."Une pizza toute garnie, madame." (the correct word for the works) and she just aout died on the spot. How dare she say that I should not speak it when she was using the wrong words. My Mom just about pissed herself and had to go laugh in the office. It was the most enjoyable pizza I ever made!

PS---Not all people from Quebec are like this but there are always a few crazy people to muck it up for the rest of them.

[SDAngel101]

I would have done the same thing!!

[Mskanga]

Samantha, you just reminded me of something. I come from Nort East Spain ( Barcelona to be exact ) and we speak "Catalan" there , it's our mother tongue but because of dictatorship when I was growing up , we couldn't speak it anywhere else but only at home. When the dictator died , people started speaking it freely in the streets and schools but it took a few years to accomplish that. In the meantime , we had a lot of immigrants from the south living in Barcelona. My mother used to have a store and countless times when I was talking to my parents I would do it in Catalan like I had done all my life and then I would have a customer say...Speak in Spanish, you are in Spain!! I always spoke my mind and told those people to mind their own business , that I was in my own land and I could speak my language and that they should learn at least to understand it. Now if someone asked me when I spoke to them and said , I do not understand Catalan, could you please speak to me in Spanish? I would do it without a problem.