'Speak English' signs allowed at Philly shop - Life - MSNBC.com

I thought I would share this because I know it has come up here before as an issue.

I do agree that people living here should make an effort to learn and speak english. I still feel that the sign is pretty rude, though. I wonder how americans who are being stationed overseas would feel like if they'd find a sign like that at the store...

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The place is called "Geno's" in what is a "traditionally italian neighborhood." I wonder how his ancestors would have liked running into that when they first came here. The way the economy is, he shouldn't be turning down business from some asian guy who orders a #3 by holding up 3 fingers instead of saying "philly beef".

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That's kind of how I looked at it. He's a business man and, my thoughts on the matter are, who cares how you order as long as your cash is good!

I think, first, English should be made our official language. People have just as much right to speak Spanish as they do English.

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Wendy~Self-proclaimed hippie momma to Bob and Jamie

I agree with you!
I was embarrased to travel abroad with my very limited french and found it fascinating that while the french don't speak very good english, they speak great spanish. So I spoke spanish when I was there instead! When I come across a situation where I know the other person doesn't speak english well (whether they're Asian, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern or other ethnicities) I even feel uncomfortable for making them uncomfortable. It hasn't to do with any specific demographic in itself, I'm sure people wish they could be up to par. Nobody likes being looked down upon. Give peace a chance!

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You must be the change you want to see in the world ~ Gandhi

I think what he did was AWESOME!!!!! hooray for his courage

I think that the sign was somewhat put into a rude contex....I do see where he is coming from though. It can be VERY frustrating trying to understand people that speak little english when you are trying to run a business or sell something to them. We run into this frequently when we have yard sales. There becomes a HUGE language barrier and you can't get the right price across to them regardless of if the price is listed on the item or not. Luckily my Stepdad is Spanish so he is able to help a bit.
I do agree that there may be a better way to get the message across besides a sign like he has.

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It is his business, he can do what he wants. If someone doesn't like it then go eat somewhere else. I don't understand why people get so up in arms over this stuff. Same goes for a TV show or radio station...if you don't like it change the channel...that is the wonder of America WE HAVE CHOICES!!!

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Stacey

“Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. ~ Eddie Cantor

Well the other thing about it that bothers me is this: what about tourists? What about people who are just here on a work visa for a few months? I'd be up a creek without a paddle if I ran into that when I was travelling in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal or Morocco. And I'd still be pretty limited in Mexico or Spain. Very often people can understand a language but not speak it, or can read but not speak it. If they can point to the menu and then say "coke", that should be good enough. I've run into nothing but very helpful people when I tried to order off foreign menues.
Yes, if I moved to another country I would definately learn the language, but you don't learn it overnight. It generally takes YEARS. And the older you are when you come over, the harder it is to learn it.
And yes, it's his business, we have choices, but it is too reminiscient, for me, of signs along the lines of "we don't serve negroes". Will the next sign be "No wheelchairs because this is a small restaurant"?

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