The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

The work-lunch debate reared it's ugly head today with some of my colleagues bringing up a topic very political in nature, so the chance to offend presented itself. I don't think anyone was offended with the discussion, but having said that, I felt like the only one with a differing opinion than everyone else.

There's this restaurant in Philadelphia called Geno's who won the right to leave a sign posted there that reads: "This is America - When ordering, please speak English."

Can you feel the love in the air?

A lot of my colleagues liked the fact this Italian restaurant owner, Joey Vinto, "stood up" for us "everyday people" because we seem to bend over backwards in our political correctness to not offend anyone. How many times have I heard you can't say "Merry Christmas" during the holidays to a client over the phone just in case they're an atheist? Can we go to far? Sometimes I feel this way. But this sign that's up, I don't know, the perception to me is that it spreads hate.

Put it this way: Pretend you decided to visit Japan. You want to go to a restaurant. Pasted right on the door as you're about to enter it reads, "This is Japan. Speak Japanese when ordering." Well, yikes, thanks for the welcome. I want to appreciate your culture by sampling what I understand is fine cuisine, but since I didn't take a Japanese course before heading over, I've lost the "right" to place an order? If you heard signs like that we're posted there, would you want to visit? Would you think the Japanese are nothing but a bunch of uppity pricks? I would. And I'd visit elsewhere. What kind of message is America sending when our world neighbors read news like that?

What happened to just wanting to help out your neighbor? If I owned a restaurant, and someone wanted to place an order that couldn't speak English, I'd try to help. I'd point to pictures, I'd show them the menu, I don't know...not only do I think it's just plain good manners, I'm going to make some money off this deal when they pay me for the food about to be ordered.

Anyway, both Canada and the Unites States are a nation of immigrants, and there was a time when the owner of Geno's restaurant had grandparents who, when they set off to the United States for greener pastures, they probably couldn't speak any English either. It took them time to eventually learn it (and I don't debate the fact that anyone who wants to emigrate to another country should take the time to learn one of the official languages) but my point is it seems that the sign posted is somewhat hypocritical. We all have struggles. We all at one point needed a hand to get by. "English Only" in my opinion might as well read "F*ck You".