A Losing Battle: Why “CALIENTE!” Needs To Be Stamped On Our Coffee Cup Lids

Do I REALLY Need to Have “CALIENTE!” Stamped On My Coffee Cup Lid? Yes, says America and here's why.

Friday was one of those mornings—I forgot to set the alarm… overslept… couldn’t find my keys… you know how it goes. So instead of making coffee, I decided to go to McDonald’s drive-thru. I zoomed through and got a medium coffee with cream and one sugar. Got to the office, and rushed to my desk. Ryan and Claudia, my two assistants (I call them work horses), looked up and nodded. I caught Claudia checking her watch and smiling up at me giving me some kind of look. Oh, I know that look. It’s the same one I give her when she’s late. Whatever.

So, OK. I sit down at my desk, ready to open a plethora of emails and get my two kids with attitude out there workin’ and I glance down at my coffee cup lid. Looking back up at me, I see CALIENTE! In caps no less! And with one of those cute little upside-down exclamation points! WTF?

“Ryan! What the hell country are we in?”
“Last time I checked, it was the U. S. of A,” he calls to me over his shoulder, never wavering from the Freecell game on his computer.
Well then, I think to myself, why the *snip* am I seeing Caliente! on my McDonald’s coffee cup?

I mean really. Why AM I looking at Spanish embossed on a plastic coffee cup lid when I am living in the Midwest of the United States? OK, if I was a mile from the Mexican border, maybe. MAY-be. The United State’s mother language is English, right? (Well, American English, if you want to get technical. The Brits don’t like it when we both claim the same language. And really, who can blame them?) Sure, sure, I know there are waves of Mexicans streaming into the US all the time, increasing our population every day. And hundreds of them streaming in are pregnant, soon to have their ‘American’ babies born here. Of course I know it—it’s a big political and economic issue, and everyone knows about the immigration controversies (especially around reelection time). But is that really a reason to start printing things on coffee cups in Spanish?

Now, unless you crawled out from under a rock, a few years ago here in the US, some woman burned herself on a cup of McDonald’s coffee and ended up suing McDonalds for millions. And I mean MILLIONS of dollars! (I’m still kicking myself for not thinking of THAT get-rich-quick scheme.) I think she’s living in some villa in the south of France now and the price of every single Quarter-Pounder-with-cheese that you are buying instantly went up 10 cents to make up for those lost millions. So McDonalds, and everyone else for that matter, started covering their ass and plastering HOT! all over their coffee cups… and now evidently, as I look down at my cup, CALIENTE! as well.

I had to shake it off and get to work. At lunchtime I would get my mind off the Spanish language infiltration and check out the lawnmowers at Sears over at the mall. Yeah, good plan. So, come lunchtime, I shoot off to Sears for some diversion. I mean, shopping for a lawnmower at the great American department store… how American can you get? Trouble is, you have to traipse through every department in order to get to the back where the tools and lawnmowers are. So, I start my stroll through the store. There’s the ‘Ninos’ department, and there’s a sign for ‘Caja Registradora’ and there’s the ‘Caballeros’ department, and... HEY! WTF? OMG, that’s the second time I’m saying WTF today! But it’s true! Sears, the great American department store has gone---well, they’ve gone Spanish! Just like McDonalds! They’re catering and kowtowing to a whole Spanish speaking population that either can’t or has absolutely zero desire to learn the language of the country that is feeding and clothing them!

Isn’t that called enabling? Aren’t we enabling them? Not giving them the incentive to even TRY to speak English? What kind of respect do they have for this country? Thumbing their Spanish-speaking noses in our faces: We don’t need your stinkin’ language. (God, when we went to Paris last summer, we got those CDs and I played them for 2 months just so I could try to speak a little French. And that was for a 10 day vacation!) Now I know there are millions of native Spanish speaking folks who do learn English. More power to them and I praise them for it. English is actually one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. (And if you want proof, just look at all the misspelling and misuse of apostrophes here on ATS!) But as I walked through the store, I realized there are so many Spanish speaking people who make no effort. None!

And why should they when Corporate America says it’s OK not to? I pushed my hands into my pockets as I walked through the store, feeling a couple dollar bills sitting down in there. And then, quite suddenly, as I gripped those few American dollars I had in my pocket, it dawned on me. This isn’t about language at all! McDonald’s and Sears don’t care if you speak English or Spanish or if you can only point and grunt. They especially don’t care for those thousands of homeless Mexicans coming to this country without a peso in their pocket. But there IS a whole population of Mexicans who’ve come here in droves so they take part in brand-new American legislation where they finally have the chance to clean someone’s house in Texas without anyone being arrested, just so they can feed and clothe their family. And then when they get paid their sub-standard wages by those perfumed Texas housewives straight from the beauty parlor, that’s where their good friends, McDonalds and Sears step in.

“No need to learn English in our stores, amigos! We speak YOUR language. And we know you’ve got some cash in your pockets—and now, you’re speakin’ OUR language. What’s that you say?? Oh don’t be silly--*snip*English lessons. Wouldn’t you rather have a new pair of Nikes or a super-sized Big Mac value meal?”

So, don’t get mad at the Spanish speakers when your menus and signage are infiltrated with Spanish in a country that prides itself on its English speaking roots. Don’t get pissed at the Mexicans when your bank’s automated call system tells you to press 3 for English. That’s wasted and misdirected anger. You’ve got to get mad at Corporate America for being enablers. (Not to mention our legislators who tell us that what Corporate America is doing is good. Good for us and good for our country. And they say it because of the dollars that McDonalds, and other companies like it, presses into the palms of their hands under the table.) And we, like mindless hypnotized drones, nod our head dumbly and go along with it while blathering words that corporations subliminally put in our heads: “I don’t mind it at all. In fact, I LIKE it.” And we truly believe it when we say it! Corporate America says it’s OK not to make an effort to speak English because in the end, they don’t really care about language at all. They don’t care about the U.S., Mexico or any other country. They don’t care about you, or me, our safety, our welfare, who we are or where we come from. There’s only one thing they do care about.
And it’s green…
but it’s not a green-card.



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I'd laugh really hard if they stopped printing stuff in English just to save money because the majority of newsreaders were immigrants, illegal or not. They're coming in droves yet you or your country do nothing.

Come what may.

Originally posted by jupiter869
or if you can only point and grunt

My favorite part of the entire post.

Since a portion of the work force is Spanish speaking and possibly illegal....who cares where the money comes from.

Whoa.

People still shop at Sears?

Ay caramba!

In the end, nothing matters to the big corporations except money just as you've pretty much stated. And I feel that it is an important point for perspective, it's never about immigration, race, religion etc... as far as issues go. The politicians use that to try and sway votes their way, whether everyone coming in was a saint or if they were all murderers, it wouldn't matter as long as they get votes or in the case of big corporations money. Some politicians realize that illegal immigrants do circulate money back into the system. It seems some feel they do not contribute, while others, see it as an opportunity to cash in. If you are illegal, you still have to purchase food, clothes, you still have to pay rent, Illegal or legal we all need gasoline to get to work and what not, and we all know how much money is in gasoline.

You are right, it really is all about money.

ETA: Language aside, when it comes to safety reasons, warnings should come in different languages based on the local demographic, and above all else, naturally, the universal language of symbols should be used since there are still some illiterate people.

reply to post by ImplausibleDeniability


....wow, you are right. Who does still shop at Sears?

I've gotta star and flag you (markar y estrella ). I'm a hispanic guy living in a bordertown. Born and raised in the U.S. of A. And I admit that it irks me that when I go to a store, everyone speaks spanish. When I'm at the register paying for whatever items my wife and I bought, we always speak english. It seems that we get poorer service because of this. I find it annoying. Just about every where I go here, it's always in spanish. Don't get me wrong, I speak both languages fluently. I just agree with what you are saying and having them learn the language. This also falls true for all the other immigrants, including the legal ones that are here. You have no idea how many Hindu, Indian, ME people there are here. There are also plenty of European, and Asian peoples here. They all claim to have been here for 20 years or so, and still, they can't speak english properly!

I do blame the big corporations for all this. I won't be surprised if we do revert to the grunting and pointing tactic pretty soon.

reply to post by wdkirk


uhhhh....I shop at sears

I'm ashamed!

Welcome to the "global" marketplace. It's all about marketing consumer goods towards diverse groups of consumers. Years ago, the vast majority of "consumers" in the USA were exclusively English speaking, but as I'm sure you're aware, times are-a-changing. In order not to alienate a large group of possible future income, they must be able to market their goods and services to these consumers. I don't believe there is a state in the union that doesn't have a significant Spanish speaking population.

Even in the Midwest, there are very large populations of Spanish speaking individuals. Business that "exploit" these groups of consumers the fastest, have the best possibility of turning a large profit. Soon, other business see the money others are making, and start marketing their goods to these potential customers. It's pretty simple logic, really. Just like the bus' in Fort Lauderdale, Florida announce their stops in Creole because of a large Haitian population. If we had significant populations of German speaking communities all over the united states, you would start to observe advertising/marketing in German. Should "we" just alienate these communities for moving to our country? "Learn English or go home!" ?

Ohhh man do I agree with the above!

There are a couple of things I would like to add to this problem......

You see we lived in Brazil for a few years - I not only had to learn portuguese but Wanted to learn it. The TV was all in portuguse (we lived there before VCR's and Sat TV - 1978-1980). I WANTED to be able to communicate with the locals.

We have extended family in The Netherlands - at 65 years old I am (trying) to learn Dutch - ohhh hard language. Most of the folks we encounter speak English - But I want to understand what others are saying and communicat back to them in their own language.

To me - my thinking only - is that we are sending a Loud and Clear message to the Spanish speaking population in the USA - "you are too stupid to learn english so we need to dumb down America for you"......

We do not see German or French or Japanese signs all over. We do not hear these languages offered when we get a recorded message. We do not have dedicated TV channels offering these alternatives.........

When I pick up a product at the store and can't find the english version of ingrediants or instructions I get really PO'ed!

Enough - my blood pressure starts to go way up when I see what has happened to this country......

the spanish was a mistake too, it was meant to say קפה !!

wait till you see some of them squggily things in arabic on there.

then you can get madder!

Honestly I fail to see the problem.

Because English is the majority language now does not mean it will always be, nor does it mean it always has been used in all areas. If you want it to change, stop complaining and make a push for english to be the official language and we can sidestep all these issues.

Also we almost always get the children of immigrants or their children at the least.

Peace
KJ

Hm. Last time I checked "Freedom of Speech" was one of the Amendments, si? Yeah it's a joke. But hey, It's America, business capital of the world, so you have to expect them if they want to sell their products to other races. In other languages

reply to post by jupiter869


I don't have anything against a society with a variety of people from different cultures. I've traveled the world and love the spice. (My opinion about culture degradation aside.) What I do not like though, is when a group of people move into another country and expect that country to conform to their way of life. That's not how it's *supposed* to go. "When in Rome" they say. I could understand it if this was airport coffee you were getting, but it's McDonald's coffee.

If you don't want to learn a new language, then you shouldn't be immigrating. When my family first moved to the United States in the early 80's, we didn't expect America to write, "Obs! Varm Kaffe" on the lid. But this is a growing fad world wide, and I think it has a lot to do with political correctness going over board. "Let's not upset the minorities, so we'll include this little thing on the lid..." But it's not just lids any more. It's schools, offices (i.e. work spaces) and everything else which is caving into this fad. Same now in Europe...

It's ridiculous. LEARN THE LANGUAGE or leave. That should be a no brainer!

Dear White People

Don't you just hate Immigrants?

- Native Americans

I agree!!!!

I live in Florida and almost everything is also in Spanish, it's annoying. I was in a store the other day and the commercials were in Spanish AND English. I was like wth!


As far as McDonald's having to put hot on everything cause some idiot spilled coffee on them is just ridiculous! It's coffee of course it's fricking hot! Dumb lady....That is what is wrong with this country. We have to appease everyone and if not look out then it's sue city. Stupidity should not be rewarded!

Hmm...did English spring, fully formed, from silence in my tiny little island? Nah, the Celts had their sing song, poetic language that got adulterated with Latin when the Romans came, then plastered into the germanic tongues of the Saxon, angle and jute. The Vikings added a few lines, before their offshoot Normans made sure that all the posh folks spoke French and the poor made do with their cultural soup.
This mix eventually became known as English, but it continued adding words from other cultures, Indian, Spanish, French, German....I think there is still a bit of room for expanding what has become the lingua franca of the world by adding a few more phrases and words that newcomers can provide. Printing words on your coffee cup is probably a good way of getting the new phrases into general use.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Aww Come on! Florida is the bosom of Hispanics in America. Expect to see some Spanish once in awhile eh?