Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Much Ado About Cheesesteaks

A civil rights watchdog agency opened an investigation on Monday into a
Philadelphia cheese steak restaurant that posted a sign saying "This is
America - when ordering, speak English."

The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations complaint effectively
opens a case against Geno's Steaks of South Philadelphia, said Rachel
Lawton, acting executive director of the agency.

The sign may violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance, which bans
businesses from discriminating on the basis of nationality or
ethnicity, Lawton said.

"The complaint will say that the sign
discourages patronage by non-English speakers because of their national
origin and/or ancestry," Lawton, whose agency enforces the city's
anti-discrimination laws, said before the official filing.

People; seriously.  Enough with the sob-stories about discrimination and racism.  My God, everytime something happens that minorities don't want, the first shot fired is 'Racism!  Discrimination! Unfair!'  This sign does not discourage anyone from visiting on the basis of their national origin or ethnicity.   This may come as a shock, but people from other countries and backgrounds CAN and DO learn English on a fairly regular basis.   And if you really, REALLY have to have  a cheesesteak, and you can't pronounce 'cheesesteak' then maybe you really don't want one as badly as you think.

This is such a simple thing, yet these flaming left-wing nutjobs try to make everything out to be some sort of racially motivated evil masterplan.  I went to Germany about 12 years ago on a student exchange program.  Now, maybe I'm the exception here, but I went with the full expectation that I would have to have and demonstrate at least a basic knowledge of German to get by.  I found it slightly helpful for things like reading road signs, menus, street names, and things like that. 

I had no expectation of anyone having to speak English simply because I couldn't be bothered to learn the local language.  That's disrespectful, ignorant, and lazy.  Luckily I was equipped with a solid education in the language, which made it fairly simple.  There were times I was stumped, but I understood how to explain that to people and asked them to please bear with me as I was trying.  In turn, they were very respectful and appreciative that I was willing to do my best as a guest of their country to accomodate THEM. 

I simply can't understand the mentality of someone who can't be bothered to learn the language of the country they live in, and then have the titanium clad balls to not ASK for but DEMAND accomodation.

It's all about respect.  It's obvious that the people complaining about this don't understand that concept.  Illegals don't respect our laws at the border, and now non-english speakers can't respect the language that dominates our culture.  If they really want to speak their language all the time, and continue to denigrate our culture perhaps they should consider heading back to their 'national origin.'


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