Hampton Union 12-7-07

WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF ENGLISH
By Ron Dupuis

I realize I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, especially from the politically extreme left, however, I've had it up to here (visualize my hand, palm down, right above my eyeballs) with people who work with the public unable to converse in America's common language.

My frustration had been building for some time and seemed to reach a flashpoint a few days ago while trying to resolve a computer program problem. The person on the other end of the phone line seemed to have an understanding of what I was trying to convey but I had absolutely no idea as to what he was telling me. It didn't help when every time a question was finally understood and answered, he found it necessary to say in a most extreme polite manner "Tank you bedy much, sir."

It gets better. After what seemed an interminable amount of time and about a thousand "tank you bedy much sirs," it was time to resolve some issues of online ordered Christmas gifts that had yet to arrive. My intention was to not only check on the tardy packages, but also place an additional order if indeed it was practical to do so. The female on the other end had the sweetest little child-like voice; almost all in Spanish. It got so frustrating for the both of us; she had to hand me off to her supervisor.

Perhaps a quiet lunch with my daughter will ebb my mounting contravention.

Upon arrival at our favorite deli where we order the same items practically every visit, we found a new clerk who spoke a language that sounded something like a combination of Slavic and pig Latin. Repeating our gastric desires at least three, perhaps four times, the aforementioned clerk managed still to screw it up. Not just by forgetting a condiment or garnish, but instead delivering an item so foreign that we could not even find any resemblance on the menu.

A few weeks ago House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., refused to bring to the floor a bill passed by the House that would protect employers from federal lawsuits for requiring their workers to speak English. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who sponsored the amendment was quoted as saying "I cannot imagine that the framers of the Civil Rights Act intended to say that it's discrimination for a shoe shop owner to say to his or her employees, "I want you to be able to speak English on the job."

The Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission feels differently. Their view is that English only policies are not relevant to job performance or safety. One Texas congressman was quoted as saying that "If it is not relevant, it is discriminatory, it is gratuitous, it is a subterfuge to discriminate against people based on national origin."

Now here is where I'm going to receive all the flack from the political left. I have had it up to my proverbial eyeballs with trying to get through life's everyday activities struggling with ongoing communication problems. From this moment on, if there is anyone, store clerk, phone rep, or even sandwich maker, who does not understand me or whom I don't understand, I will take my business elsewhere and find someone who has a working knowledge of English. In My Humble Opinion, it is not the fault of these poor people who are trying to make a living despite a huge language barrier, but instead the fault of our government who by its lack of common sense allows this problem to persist.

Ron Dupuis is a New Hampshire resident, former state representative and freelance writer. E-mail him at drcdupuis@comcast.net or vist his Web site at www.imho-nh.blogspot.com.