Mind your language

November 28th, 2007 Written by Biz

It has struck me that there has always been a somewhat unequal exchange of culture between our trans-Atlantic allies and ourselves. Now before I go too much further, I must make it perfectly clear that I use the word ‘culture’ in the very loosest sense with regards to America…one generally has to have at least five centuries to even lay down the roots of a basic culture (sorry guys…only another 250 years to go). Here are some illustrative examples:
 

• We gave them Period costume dramas like ‘Pride and Prejudice’…they gave us Beef Jerky.
• We gave them a Royal visit by Her Majesty the Queen; who whilst there, was polite, charming, diplomatic and displayed matchless etiquette…they sent us George W Bush in return (enough said).
• We gave them The Beatles…they gave us Hip Hop and Gangsta Rappers.
• We gave them Morecambe and Wise, Dads Army and Faulty Towers …they gave us The Transformers!

 

With this in mind, I am astounded that we constantly strive to take on more and more of the habits and lifestyle traits of the Americans; what is sure though, is that whatever new developments take place across the water; you can be assured that it won’t be long before they land upon our shores. It was with a sense of foreboding then, that I read the story of a lawsuit brought about by workers at a sheet metal plant in Connecticut, against their employers.
 

The workers, who were of Hispanic origin and some of whom could not speak English properly, were told that they must only speak English whilst at work because of safety concerns (such as heavy moving plant and molten metal pools within the work areas). The supervisors and managers, who were American, could only speak English, so any (frequently) shouted warnings/ instructions etc needed to be in a standardised language so that everyone could communicate effectively. Not unreasonably, as the plant was in America and the managers could only speak English; they chose English as the standard language to be used.
 

A group of workers refusing to comply with the English only rule were subsequently sacked and stating that they felt ‘abused and violated’ proceeded to sue their former employers.
 

Now you might reasonably expect that when you are working in a country that has been good enough to let you in, in the first place and then has been kind enough to give you a job too, you would try to do your best to integrate…but oh no…not these tequila swilling, fajita munching hombres…oh no.
 

Worst of all though, to stretch ones incredulity to the outermost boundaries and test ones very sanity; a US court has upheld the ex-workers case awarding them $100,000 dollars each and proclaiming that employers denying foreign workers the right to speak their own language might be denying them their Human Rights!!
 

Now I don’t really care what happens in America, except that stupid trends like this always seem to make their way across the water and land upon these shores; they are then taken up by the same noncy liberal pinko crowd that run our Councils and are then foisted upon the rest of us by their ill-conceived diktats.
 

Mark my words…it is only a matter of time before you pop down to the local Council Offices to pay for your Residents Parking Permit and the person you are speaking with converses with you in Polish. If you then insist that he speak in English, you may be asked to leave, as you will be violating his Human Rights by insisting that he be deprived of his own language and culture (you unfeeling brute). Think that this is a bit far fetched? Believe me…it’s only a matter of time, and don’t forget…you heard it here first!
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entry Filed under: Rants & Views