Please speak English!!!!!

[wvjules]

I'm tired of every restaurant I go to here not having employees that speak English. Its a real pain at a drive-thru. I think I've eaten at more places where they dont' speak English than that do. I want turkey, not ham on my sub. I want the meatloaf at Boston Market, not dark meat. I should NOT have to learn Spanish to be able to order my food!

Grrr.....vent over!

 

[mmcguire]

Ugh!! ITA! It's become a problem at our local McDonald's. I swear, it takes twice as long to order as it used to, and most times it's wrong. DH and I always order the Southwestern salad with low-fat dressing. Half the time we get the wrong salad and/or the wrong dressing. We ask for milk with the Happy Meals, and they almost always hand us a soda cup anyway. Drives me nuts!!!! I am so sick of having to order like I'm talking to a two year old. There should be stricter language requirements for public-facing employees.

 

[bubie2.5]

A drive-thru employee that doesn't speak English?!?! I've never encountered that, and I've lived in Florida.

 

[Fitswimmer]

hoo, boy are YOU going to get flamed!!

I'm with you though, BTW. I work part time in our local Target and there are fellow employees that I can't say more than hello to because they don't know enough English to have a conversation!!!! How does that foster TEAMWORK??? I've had guests come up to me and ask if I speak English and then say "well Thank God for that!" and ask whatever question they have. Of course, on the flip side, there are many guests that don't speak enough English for me to assist them either, I have to call for a "translator".

 

[SwedishMeatball]

I've run into this in areas of Raleigh and it's very frustrating.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I've never had a problem with someone not speaking English, per se, but speaking Drive Thru English is a different story altogether.

 

[WhatATreat]

I'm learning a flame suit is pretty much required for posting on the community board.

BTW, I agree. It is hard enough to hear on the drive thru intercoms as it is, and I have gotten the wrong items many times too. If people are working a job that requires effective communication then they need to speak the language the majority of Americans speak.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Its not so bad in my town & surrounding towns, but I totally understand what you mean. I do alot of work in different chain stores in a 40 mile radius from home. Some stores I honestly just try to avoid going to since I can't find anyone who can understand my question asked in English. And if they do, they can't answer it in English enough for me to understand.

There is one store I go to that has about 3 languages primarily spoken there. The service desk girls are good however & can speak enough of each language to help the customer. AND they can speak English. I don't mind that store at all.

 

[wvjules]

I never encountered that many non-English speakers my entire life in WV as I have here in 2 months. I guess I'll have to get used to it or learn Spanish. This is all new to me. lol

 

[kimmikayb]

Won't get flamed by me. I totally agree. I'm all for the USA being a giant melting pot...I'm all for everyone working for a better life. But I also believe you need to speak the language. I would never go to another country to get a job and not speak the language.

 

[ConcKahuna]

That's one of the risks you get living in America. After all, our country does not have an official language, so it is illegal to not hire someone just because they don't speak it.

I personally think it would be a good thing if we had an official language.

 

[Bob Slydell]

I never encountered that many non-English speakers my entire life in WV as I have here in 2 months. I guess I'll have to get used to it or learn Spanish. This is all new to me. lol

Some would argue that WV has a language of it's own.

 

[Starstruckdancer]

I live near the Jersey SHore so I alway go to the boardwalk. And NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH. They hire all this people fron Poland and Russia. And they are every where. Every SHop and food place. It's very annoying. And then in the winter when some of the shops are still open. Where are the Russian people. Back in Russia. Its no fair because I tried to get summer jobs at theese place (and I speak english) but no I'm jobless this summer.

Sorry that was a little rant.

 

[kimmikayb]

That's one of the risks you get living in America. After all, our country does not have an official language, so it is illegal to not hire someone just because they don't speak it.

I personally think it would be a good thing if we had an official language.

Well color me dumb and throw me in naive school....I didn't know this! English isn't our official language? I've been living in the boonies too long.

 

[WhatATreat]

I have had drive thru employees actually speak to me in Spanish when I get up to the window. You know, they say "Hola" or "gracias" or whatever. Luckily, I know those word from Sesame Street. I just respond in English.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Well color me dumb and throw me in naive school....I didn't know this! English isn't our official language? I've been living in the boonies too long.

Yup, we are the only country I know of that doesnt have at least one official language. It came up as an issue while I was living in Ft. Lauderdale. Someone filed a lawsuit because they had misunderstood a government application of some kind. The court ruled that because there is no official US language, the state government had to issue the application in the person's native language.

 

[Christine]

A few days ago I was in Arby's. The two cash register people were non-Hispanic. The one waiting on me takes my order and gets on the microphone and repeats it to the cooking staff in VERY fluent Spanish. I complimented the guy on how well he spoke Spanish. Then the cashier next to him says to him "Will you stop doing that. Speak English to them. You ought to be speaking English."

 

[LadyShiva]

Well color me dumb and throw me in naive school....I didn't know this! English isn't our official language? I've been living in the boonies too long.

However, there was a case that went to the US Supreme Court that was ruled to in favor of employers being able to require employees to speak English during their working hours. This meant no Spanish at any point while working on the clock.

So we might not have an "official language," but we do have the ability to require a specific language in a US workplace.

Brandie

 

[tink_n_pooh]

It's not illegal to not hire someone because they can not properly do the job, and if excellent communication skills are a must (as they should be for any job that you need to speak with the public) than not hiring someone because they have sub-par communications skills is not illegal.

If received applications from prospective employees that are written in such poor English I can barely read them. There is no way I would hire that person, this job requires good written and verbal communication skills. Since we speak English and most all of our customers speak English our employees need to speak English.

If I worked in fast food and kept getting the orders wrong I wouldn't be shocked if I got fired. Why can't they fire someone for getting orders wrong, no matter what language they speak?

 

[WhatATreat]

A few days ago I was in Arby's. The two cash register people were non-Hispanic. The one waiting on me takes my order and gets on the microphone and repeats it to the cooking staff in VERY fluent Spanish. I complimented the guy on how well he spoke Spanish. Then the cashier next to him says to him "Will you stop doing that. Speak English to them. You ought to be speaking English."

Now see, I don't care if employees talk to each other in Spanish, just when they do it to me and expect me to understand what the heck they are talking about. At least that cashier has a better chance of getting your order right.