My Wife is Funny
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We live in Texas. In the United States. One of the few countries that is not brave enough to specify a "national language". This weekend, we were in a furniture store being helped by a Hispanic guy. In the middle of our visit, one of the warehouse monkies came up to him and started a conversation about some furniture that we were inquiring about. The conversation was entirely in Spanish. This really irritated my wife, so she interrupted them. "My husband and I speak English and .45ACP. How would you like to proceed?" Looks like I'll be getting a new t-shirt soon. :)
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997Alright, that's it. I'm from Ireland, where these days it is unusual to be able to acquire almost any item of household goods, furniture or food without having to negotiate a fairly thick Eastern European or Far Eastern accent due to the hordes of foreign students paying their way through our colleges with their labours. Certainly many people may find it trying, and the less well-off/educated denizens of the Emerald Isle aften take out their frustrations on them, particularly when drunk and coked out of it at 4 in the morning on their re-mortgaging profits. But the idea that two Hispanic shop attendants who are trying to help you and your redneck wife receive that kind of treatment for speaking in a language more familiar to them when speaking amongst themselves is abusive and disgusting, if not outright racist. Dressed up as humour, it's even more nauseating. The fact that this was presumably during office hours, and presumably without the malign influence of alcohol, means that there is even less excuse. If you write code abroad as part of a team of foreign contractors, do you get laughed at for discussing things with your associate in English? No probably not because you spend all of your time knee deep in Raytheons or whatever, or building moats and congratulating yourself on living in the land of the free. You get away with this puerile line of gun-totin', right-on horseshit on these forums because you're a good coder and generally funny, but on this occasion It's anything but. You, sir, are a disgrace.
Smokie, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. www.geticeberg.com http://melpadden.wordpress.com
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Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
eah but would you be bothered if two people spoke a foreign language in your presence?
Absolutely not. My ancestors didn't speak a word of English when they came over from Europe in the late 1800"s. I can care less if someone wants to speak their mother language. We all know America has no "official" language but try getting a job here without knowing some English. :) I think what John "may" have been trying to say was that two people were speaking another language in regards to John and his wife's situation at the store.
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011)Slacker007 wrote:
I think what John "may" have been trying to say was that two people were speaking another language in regards to John and his wife's situation at the store.
Yeah. I suspect one of these : (1) one of them did not speak English or (2) they were making a not so complimentary comment about John or his wife. :)
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
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Slacker007 wrote:
America's mother tongue is bastardized English.
Well, I guess the ingabitants of central and south America wont agree on that. Spanish and Portugese seems pretty common in America(the whole continent). ;)
I'm not familiar with the word ingabitants. Care to enlighten me? ;)
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
Albert Holguin wrote:
everyone else speaks multiple languages...
no they don't. Most people who speak other languages, "know" these other languages out of necessity instead of desire. America's mother tongue is bastardized English. This is my mother language. I shouldn't have to learn someone else's language in my own F'n country.
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011)Apparently in certain respects, some varieties of American English are closer to the English of Shakespeare than modern Standard English[^] Also significant beginning around 1600 AD was the English colonization of North America and the subsequent creation of American English. Some pronunciations and usages "froze" when they reached the American shore. In certain respects, some varieties of American English are closer to the English of Shakespeare than modern Standard English ('English English' or as it is often incorrectly termed 'British English') is. Some "Americanisms" are actually originally English English expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost at home (e.g., fall as a synonym for autumn, trash for rubbish, and loan as a verb instead of lend). The American dialect also served as the route of introduction for many native American words into the English language. Most often, these were place names like Mississippi, Roanoke, and Iowa. Indian-sounding names like Idaho were sometimes created that had no native-American roots. But, names for other things besides places were also common. Raccoon, tomato, canoe, barbecue, savanna, and hickory have native American roots, although in many cases the original Indian words were mangled almost beyond recognition.
Rhys "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal" "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe"
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Albert Holguin wrote:
you know, most people in Europe speak 3-4 languages
Hmmm not really. The french refuse to speak anything but French. The Germans might also speak English but not much. The Spaniards might also speak English. There really is only one country where we learn 3-4 languages and that's only half the country then. (Belgium, you know the one without a government ;P ) For the record I speak: Dutch, English, French and German.
Tom Deketelaere wrote:
There really is only one country where we learn 3-4 languages
Don't forget Switzerland.
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I'm not familiar with the word ingabitants. Care to enlighten me? ;)
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) -
Well maybe you need to learn another language... you know, most people in Europe speak 3-4 languages... And yes, I am hispanic and speak both English and Spanish (and I'm also from Texas). Edit: I also speak bad German, understand Italian (minus heavy accents) and Portuguese.
Albert Holguin wrote:
most people in Europe speak 3-4 languages
I think that is probably only true of Scandinavians, Dutch and Belgians. Most of the rest speak only their own language and English. The majority of the British (I include Scots, Welsh and Irish) speak only English.
Unrequited desire is character building. OriginalGriff
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Slacker007 wrote:
I think what John "may" have been trying to say was that two people were speaking another language in regards to John and his wife's situation at the store.
Yeah. I suspect one of these : (1) one of them did not speak English or (2) they were making a not so complimentary comment about John or his wife. :)
Regards, Nish
My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com
I doubt it was (2)... more likely it was (1)... people just fear what they don't understand, for no logical reason. The guy was probably asking his backroom monkey whether the stuff was on stock or something. Being fluent in Spanish, if I hear anyone bad mouthing someone else because they think the other person doesn't understand... I'll speak up and say something.
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How can it not be threatening to someone if you tell them the calibre of weapon you use in that context? How can the other person tell whether or not you are carrying? Yes, what they did was rude, but a polite request to speak English was all that was required. Mentioning the size of the gun she fires was totally unnecessary. Edit: not my 1-vote.
viaducting wrote:
How can it not be threatening to someone
Because it's not a threat to quote the caliber of a bullet.
viaducting wrote:
How can the other person tell whether or not you are carrying?
It would be pretty obvious.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
I guess you don't? I'm obviously generalizing...
Albert Holguin wrote:
I'm obviously generalizing...
:thumbsup: Well said, Albert!
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
Ross Callon, The Twelve Networking Truths, RFC1925
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I fail to see the humour in threatening someone with a weapon just for speaking another language.
I guess that's the american way texan way ... :-D Have a 5!
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
Ross Callon, The Twelve Networking Truths, RFC1925
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Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
eah but would you be bothered if two people spoke a foreign language in your presence?
Absolutely not. My ancestors didn't speak a word of English when they came over from Europe in the late 1800"s. I can care less if someone wants to speak their mother language. We all know America has no "official" language but try getting a job here without knowing some English. :) I think what John "may" have been trying to say was that two people were speaking another language in regards to John and his wife's situation at the store.
Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011)Slacker007 wrote:
I can care less if someone wants to speak their mother language
So it does bother you then? Personally I couldn't care less.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]
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In a customer service situation, it's RUDE to speak a language other than the language used by the customer to initiate the conversation. Personally, I freakin' hate it.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997I guess I'd have to have been there. It may have just been that the guy may have been wanting to exclude you from the conversation because they were discussing business matters. I've been to stores many a times where after talking to an employee, they step away to discuss the business matters in private. It could have been something similar here. *shrug*
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viaducting wrote:
How can it not be threatening to someone
Because it's not a threat to quote the caliber of a bullet.
viaducting wrote:
How can the other person tell whether or not you are carrying?
It would be pretty obvious.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braunahmed zahmed wrote:
it's not a threat to quote the caliber of a bullet.
Suppose someone said to you: "Please move your truck. I fire .45ACP." or "Don't look at my wife. I fire .45ACP." All they are doing is quoting the calibre of a bullet, but I don't see how you could consider it anything but a threat.
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Yes sir, it's the same as inhabitants but spelled in the european way of english. So now we have English english, US english, Canadian english and European english (not counting the island). ;)
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I guess that's the american way texan way ... :-D Have a 5!
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
Ross Callon, The Twelve Networking Truths, RFC1925
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So, you and your wife don't know anything except English (actually broken English, aka American) and were pissed off because someone else was talking in a different language. What's funny is that you thought what your wife said was funny. :laugh:
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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I guess that's the american way texan way ... :-D Have a 5!
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
Ross Callon, The Twelve Networking Truths, RFC1925
Wow, who'd have figured this: The uni-hole is ass-voting again! I do feel flattered by so much attentiveness. Cheers!
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
Ross Callon, The Twelve Networking Truths, RFC1925
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We live in Texas. In the United States. One of the few countries that is not brave enough to specify a "national language". This weekend, we were in a furniture store being helped by a Hispanic guy. In the middle of our visit, one of the warehouse monkies came up to him and started a conversation about some furniture that we were inquiring about. The conversation was entirely in Spanish. This really irritated my wife, so she interrupted them. "My husband and I speak English and .45ACP. How would you like to proceed?" Looks like I'll be getting a new t-shirt soon. :)
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997I think Samuel L Jackson covered this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_mDTLphIVY&feature=related[^] (Not KSS)
Pete O'Hanlon wrote:
I'm looking forward to it; primarily because it should wipe that smug grin off Steve Jobs face.
CPallini wrote:
You cannot argue with agile people so just take the extreme approach and shoot him. :Smile:
