today at the bank, a customer pulled up to the drivethrough. we had a very enlightening conversation.
me: "How are you today?"
him: "Cash please."
i cash his check, and count out the money to him.
me: "Have a nice day."
and then he just drives off, not even bothering with a "thank you" or "you too."
and i thought to myself, hmm, i wasn't aware that that was a state of being... i'm used to the more usual tired, good, pretty good, etc. after cashing his check, i had another thought. several of our non-hispanic customers have commented on my spanish, saying how it's a good thing that i know it. but i think, if some of our hispanic customers (though not all... several speak fluent or near-fluent english, and quite a few others have enough to get by) aren't going to trouble themselves to learn more of the local language to say more than "can you cash my check," why should i go out of my way to learn a foreign language to make them more comfortable? especially given the fact that many of them have been living in america for quite a few years now, whereas at this point, i have no desire to even travel to a spanish-speaking country, let alone to live in one. for some time now, my thought has been that if you're planning on being in the country for longer than a decent vacation (2-3 weeks), you need to learn the language. you don't have to be fluent, you just have to be able to communicate, and not count on somebody there being able to speak your language. this applies to both people coming to america and people going out of it; i hope to travel to rhodes at some point, and plan on learning some greek before i do.
which, somehow, brings me to hyphenated-americanism, which i still hate. a case in point, brought up by this article from tongue tied (excerpts follow):
Two cops in Topeka, Kan. have been disciplined for writing a letter to the editor of the local paper and emails to one of its columnists that the local NAACP considers racially insensitive.
Both are accused of using racially inflammatory language in their complaints about a columnist, Glenda Overstreet, who wrote that a black defendant with five prior felony convictions was the victim of racism because the judge didn't let him walk when he "spoke eloquently."
In a letter to the local Metro News, Eaton [one of the cops] called Overstreet [head of the local NAACP] a racist and said "being a colored person does not give you a 'get out of trouble free card' to be used when you want it." He mocked her use of the term "African-American," and said "If it's so great in the 'home land', then why are you here?"
in my opinion, that last comment was a bit overboard. but at the same time, it raises a good point. the average "african-american" was not born in africa; odds are they have never been there, nor have their parents or even grandparents. odds are, i know more about africa than your average "african-american." so why do we tack "african" in front of "american"? or any other group, for that matter: chinese-american, arab-american, etc. for a first generation immigrant, that makes sense. after that, you're either american or you're not; and if you're not, you have my cordial invitation to get the hell out.
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