No, I don’t think that’s logical at all. I’m sure there are many ads in English that produce workers who can’t speak the language.
Yes, indeed it is.
Why in the world is this racist? He is not pandering to some racist element, unless you think people who’d prefer to converse in their own language are essentially racist.
Maybe he does speak only English. So what? Why is it racist to point out this fact. Again, I allow that he is juxatposing this attribute against other contractors whose employees do NOT speak English. “Exclusive,” “inclusive,” what nonsense! He is stating a fact, pointing out an attribute that a customer might find attractive. He should not do so because that marks him as different than contractors who don’t possess this attribute? Um, that’s the point. Sorry, I still can see absolutely no offense here.
I agree that there’s no offense here, and I’m pretty freakin leftist. If he said, “We only speak English,” that’s also not offensive: all it does is tell people that this company has a certain limitation, that they’re not as good as a company that is bilingual.
Let folks advertise what they want, as long as they’re not advertising something like, “We only hire white people,” or, “Latino customers not welcome.”
I don’t think he was “implying” that other gardening contractors don’t speak english. I believe he was out and out saying it. And from what those who live in that are saying, that is a true statement.
I disagree that either a spanish gardener (or any other type contractor) OR an english one letting people know that they speak the language of their target customer base is being “racist”.
This is no different than a company offering any other type of advantage. And really, if the answer for this company is that they do “only” speak english, it’s only an advantage regarding english speaking customers.
I disagree. People are SO used to the signs, phone prompts and so on advertising “We Speak Spanish…” that it doesn’t really cross most people’s minds as being anything other than the literal meaning “we speak spanish”. That is if they even think twice about it.
The problem in this case is that it’s something different and new in a manner of speaking. And as with anything positive that might be said by an American about America regarding his country of birth it’s automatically suspect as being somehow “racist”.
It’s as if the automatic response to a positive remark about America, or our language, practices and so on, is to assume that one means that conversely anyone or anything else NOT possessing whatever it is that has been praised is bad.
Lastly, as someone else has already said, some people just go about in life LOOKING for offense.
It usually depends upon the age of the person when s/he comes to the States. English is just as hard to learn now as it was in the good ol’ days. I doubt that “In my grandfather’s time everyone learned English.” Many cities had enclaves where most communication was in German or Italian.
And bilingual education can work if it’s done correctly. In some places it’s been successful. In others it’s been a disaster.
I agree, and I’ve already written that there doesn’t appear to be any racism in this case. But some people seem to be going beyond that and are arguing that racism is never hiding behind the curtain.
Well, this depends. If the girl is from Central America, it would be strange to her. Most parents from CA use the formal register when talking to their children (though they often shift, as your friends do–and they have three different registers of address). Using informal register would be like a University professor at Berkeley calling his/her students “honey” or “dude.” It would make the instructor seem unprofessional. In the southern U.S., however, I could imagine a professor addressing a student as “honey” (although I admit that’s just pure speculation). Latin Americans tend to hold their instructors in much higher esteem than the typical U.S. student. (While, as an aside, rich Kuwatis are spoiled brats who veiw their teacher as a servant, even though we saved their sorry asses when Iraq invaded them.)
But generally speaking, you’re probably right, Bambi. Register is a question of affect, but also of regionalism. If this girl is especially shy, informal might be the better way to address her.
“Pain”? It’s the raisin capital of the world, isn’t it?..Or would that be Turloc? At least you don’t live in Turloc. I was hitch hiking around there and had to sleep in a grape field. I don’t recommend that; if you have the money, try to find a motel that smells like curry…mmm, curry.
3.0? And you bothered to feel it? That’s like a big truck driving by your house. Now Northridge and Loma Prieta–the only way I can describe them is like God just picked up the house in his hands and started to shake it around.
