I cant even get a sub at subway because they dont speak english!

I walked into a subway today and, big surprise, mexicans. This is one of those ones in the wal-mart. I walk up and im reading the menu to my mom since she has forgotten her glasses and apparently the only english this guy spoke was the menu.

So he heard me talk about a chicken teriyaki sub, so he grabs a sub and starts making that. I told him no I want an Italian sub.....well he assumes I want 2 subs (I had 6 inch subs and ou can order 12 inch, a leap of logic might tell you I would of gotten a 12 inch if I wanted two subs). My mom starts telling him what she wants and he gets confused and starts speaking jibberish. (unintelligible english) and his english is very broken so in frustration we left. We were the only two customers and now I see why.

It did get me thinking though, we shouldnt accept mediocre service and pay for stuff we dont want because they dont speak english. So if more americans refuse to put up with that and the businesses begin to lose money it might help the immigration problem. Kinda like a boycott only not quite as organized, if you dont speak english dont buy their goods. sounds pretty simple, think it might work?

"you want the see-kan? or the la-da beef?"

me-" what? what are you seeking? who is la-da beef?"

Boycott a franchise for hiring a human being of a different ethnicity simply because you don't have the patience to give the guy a chance.

I walked into a subway today and, big surprise, mexicans.

Apparently you have some issues here that you may want to explore somewhere else.

Personally I think if somebody flubbing an order at subway is the worst part of your day, things are not too bad.

For the boycott, your on your own. And next time watch the backhanded slurs, they will probably get you in trouble. Try alittle patience maybe aswell.

"DEY TOOK R JAHBS" [/southpark]

I have had this same problem again and again and while I feel like the Mexicans comment was a little backhanded I feel your frustration and there are several places that I do not go anymore for food, Subway McDonalds, and so on and so on. the bonus is it saves me money I feel healthier and I don't have to learn 14 languages to order food in my native country.... Now that said I also understand that some people are learning as they go and I have a large respect for this
I do not however have the time to teach them (this is why they call it fast food isn't it)

Geo

[edit on 4/16/2006 by geocom]

Awful unATS to jumpt the gun that someone mentions mexican and assume they meant it in any other way than the fact they were mexican (or possibly some other similar background).

Wal-Mart is known to hire illegal works, my local one got raided by the INS like a year or two ago for just such a practice. And if a chain employs people who cannot understand wtf you are saying then by all means boycot them or at least contact the manager to file a complaint. One really does have to wonder though how someone who obviously struggles with the simpler parts of the english language can land a job that requires them to interface with the public quite regularly? How did they make it through the interview process? Patience is fine but at what point does it turn from being patient to just putting up with incompetenece that wouldnt be happening if the employer were more stringent in their hiring process? I'm all for people learning the langauge and becoming citizens but until you can speak the langauge with a degree of confidence and skill stay out of such positions as it only frustrates both the customer and the employee who probably doesnt enjoy the situation any more than the person waiting 25 minutes for food that shouldnt take more than 5 minutes.

If I don't like the service somewhere, I stop shopping there.
Language barrier is one reason, but there are many more.
Like the pizza place that forgot to include one item, and then BLAMED ME, on the phone later, when I called them. So far it's been 2 years for that place.
It's also important that you tell others about your negative experience.
They may not miss ONE customer, but they will miss 10, or 20 or 100.

If someone at a food service counter, cannot take your order properly, they DO NOT deserve your business. I get REALLY sick of bad service, for whatever reason (including misunderstandings due to language). I DO NOT CARE WHY you can't take my order..You need to do it right, the very first time.

I live by this rule, and I vote with my wallet every single day.
I encourage others to do the same..

On a side note, if you recieve consistently GOOD service from a business, It's important that you tell others as well.

BTW, Subway is on my "do not patronize" list right now..Maybe, just maybe they will see my business in a year or so..But, due to this thread, there is a good chance I will wait longer to spend my money there..

How is this rant racist?

If you want a job in America, you should be REQUIRED to speak English! This is America, not Mexico or whatever Hispanic country! Our de facto "official" language is English.

Let me put it this way--Say you move to France and you refuse to learn French and you're at a French version of Subway. Don't you think the French would get a bit ticked off at this and start muttering something about stupid Americans?

This is not about race from what I can tell, it's about people who move here from another country and are too lazy to learn the language! You want to live here, do so legally and learn to sling the lingo!

And who exactly is to say this guy is not making his best effort to learn? Are none of us patient enough to allow the man a chance to learn the language. How long do you think it would take yourself exactly to completely learn a language and feel comfortable talking back and forth with customers.

Does anyone see the possibilty that maybe he is trying to learn and beable to fit in, and the ignorance of a few who will not give him the slightest chance maybe even sets him back.

I know if I was in a foreign country trying to learn the language, and treated like that I would be extremely embarrassed. Maybe we would not expect the luxury of be given the patience in a foreign country, but I would expect it on our side of the world.

Millions of kids are starving all over the world, and the likes of us are walking out of establishments because they can't get their precious little sub fast enough.

What would a child in Africa do for that sub?

I am really suprised with some of the responses in this thread, we actually agree with the notion that its right to treat a person like this because he is unable to articulate to your standard.

Almost speechless.

Well, I'll tell you what--if I were an employer, I would NOT hire anyone who couldn't speak the language (in this case English) well enough! Doesn't matter what race the applicant is.

That would certainly be an incentive to learn the language before you go job-hunting, wouldn't it?

Maybe if the employer had alittle sence and well decency, they would give the person a shot and give him a job where the language barrier is not an issue. Don't have him working the front counter if he is unable to communicate.

Not giving somebody a job because he can not speak english is no different than saying I will not give him a job because of his skin color. Yes he may not be as equipped to do every job as someone who speaks the langauge fluently, however are you telling me a guy who speaks broken english is not qualified to mop the floors or flip a burger?

Maybe it is a mistake to have him on the front counter, but it is deffinately no reason to keep him from having a job.

What some of us are saying in this thread is since this man can not speak the language as good as we may hope, and he takes an extra 5 minutes out of my precious day that I would normally spend doing absolutely nothing , then this man should be out of a job.

Whether he has kids at home or not, he should be out of a job and were going to boycott these franchises to give these men a shot.

If the day ever comes where I can say that about myself, its a day I'm saying in bed because I would be emarrassed of myself.

Working in the back is fine. But if you're going to be interacting with the public, most of whom speaks English, you should be able to know enough English.

If you're going to live here in America you should know English anyway.

If you can't do the job you shouldn't be placed in that job--and communication is part of a front-counter job. Would you stick a deaf person on drive-thru?

So you actually believe that rather than giving an extra minute out of your day so a man can feed his family, you would rather see him fired so you can keep your precious 60 seconds to waste somewhere else?

A man who can not hear on the drive thru is not an adequate comparison because we are talking of a man who spoke broken english. This man could speak, and just was not given the opportunity or patience. He was on strike 2 before the order was even placed.

That's beside the point, chissler.

My question is, why would you put someone on a job that requires interaction with the public when they can't even speak the language? That's asking for trouble.

Maybe it's just me, but if I'm in a situation where customer service is a big issue, the last place I'm going is Wal-Mart. (In fact, Wal-Mart IS the last place I go, but it has nothing to do with the customer service quality and is a totally different topic).

I'd rather deal with a non-English speaker making an effort than a distracted, disinterested high-schooler randomly jamming stuff in a bag and then charging the wrong amount because they just can't be bothered with doing what they were hired to do.

I happen to live in an area with a lot of immigrants from Latin America and my experience has been that they're hard working, polite, focused, and determined. They show up when they're supposed to, stay on task, and work when they're supposed to be working. Yeah, there's some bad apples, but I don't think they're disproportinately greater in the immigrant ranks.

Sometimes employers are stuck for employees and have to make cuts at different corners.

Its not an ideal situation, however sometimes this is an honest reality.

Should this man not be applauded for his efforts in trying to learn the language and try to make your day easier?

Do we think he goes home and smiles every night? Can you imagine the agony he would be in after every shift, how many customers are frustrated by him. I would hope to be the one customer who did not give him a hard time and thank him for his efforts.

From what I have read in this thread, I do believe some of us would rather see the man fired than give up the minute of their day. So I ask it again, are we that impatient that if it were the only choices we want him fired?

I provide technical phone support for different companies with my current job and I talk to all walks of life. Canada to India in a matter of seconds so the accents I go through on a regular day is unimaginable. Yes it can be frustrating sometimes, but you can hear it in their voices how hard they are trying. Their efforts are not going to be ignored and I do remain patient with them, as I am probably just as difficult to understand.

I walked into a subway today and, big surprise, mexicans.

"you want the see-kan? or the la-da beef?"

me-" what? what are you seeking? who is la-da beef?"

"DEY TOOK R JAHBS"

Like I said, 2 strikes before the first pitch was tossed.

I'd rather deal with a non-English speaker making an effort than a distracted, disinterested high-schooler randomly jamming stuff in a bag and then charging the wrong amount because they just can't be bothered with doing what they were hired to do.

Exactly!

Well said



[edit on 17-4-2006 by chissler]

I must say I do agree that a front counter position at a fast food restaurant may not be the best position for someone who can barely speak English in an English speaking country. I have no problem at all with non-english speaking immigrants getting jobs, however if they are working in the fast food industry there is no reason why they can't start out in the back, giving them an opprotunity to learn english better and keeping communication frustrations at a minimum.

Of course the guy at Subway was probably really frustrated that he couldn't understand the customer. So in my opinion I feel his employer put him on the spot and put him in a position to be frustrated and embarassed and humiliated by putting him in a situation where he can not fully communicate with the customer. It is not really the guys fault, I'm sure he is doing his best to learn English and what not, but for right now, he should've never been put into that position.

I do agree that maybe the poster of this thread was a bit insensitive and did make a few backhanded comments. I would've probably tried to be more patient with the guy, but that's just me. However I do understand the frustration of the language barrier...on both sides of the coin.

I agree snowflake, the argument on both sides of the coin is deffinately valid.

But the way the argument has been made on the other side of the coin in this thread, is alittle insensitive to the poor man at the counter who probably does not want to be there any more then these guys want him there.

As yeahright very eloquently said earlier to myself, its the fatcat franchises that are to blame here. These poor men and women working the counter are the easy targets who we should not be directing the blame at.

A few people who posted in this thread previously created a very unlike ATS atmosphere. Amethyst spoke her opinions but tried to remain respectful. That is the ATS way. There was more than her that did so but I am not reading through this whole thread to name everyone, she has been going back and forth with me over the last hour so I am just acknowledging her efforts.

[edit on 17-4-2006 by chissler]

Without getting into the whole illegal immigrant argument, I will say that there are certain standards that all naturalized US citizens are required to meet…They all are supposed to jump through the same loopholes and take a test that determines their eligibility – For more information on that side of the fence, you can click here

So either these people are working towards becoming naturalized, or they plan on remaining illegal workers for whatever reasons they may have – Some legit and some not…

I make the same argument as Chissler and yeahright here – 9 times out of 10, these people just need your cooperation and understanding…

When you are in a foreign country as a customer, you are not typically refused service b/c you do not speak their language – They work with you…

If you can’t make out a single slovo…Stop talking about the damn food, remember you’re talking to a human being, and try to make conversation with them on a different subject – They’ll at least know you’re not out for their blood and perhaps you’ll discover another means of communicating more effectively…If it’s not during your 30 minute lunch break from work, then since when did “fast food” suddenly become your primary goal?

And it isn’t odd how people will complain more when they go to an American franchise like Subway and find an immigrant working there, but they have fewer complaints when they go to their local Chinese restaurant and find nothing but Chinese workers who probably speak less English than the person at Subway…

As though these people are only made for one job and expected to remain satisfied with their stereotypes…

I also just wanted to add...

Has anyone ever thought of why non-English speaking immigrants seem to be the only ones working at fast food restaurants nowdays, positions that used to be filled by teenagers who were actually proud to get their first job?
I feel that we have extremily spoiled our children to think that they are way too good to work those kinds of jobs. I hear teenagers tease eachother all the time saying things like "you can't even get a job at McDonalds" as if working at McDonalds part time after school is the most shameful thing in the world.

This may seem like an insensitive statement, but maybe if more of our own natural born citizens didn't think they were too good to work at places like that, then maybe these companies wouldn't be hiring so many non-English speaking immigrants.