New Arizona Immigration Enforcement Laws

It's all three and I have mixed feelings.

Most immigrants, legal or illegal, that want to work and make decent money here want to learn the language. Only the old viejos really don't ever bother. I'm with martin here.

But until they can communicate effectively, they remain ditch-diggers and lettuce-pickers and rightly so. You can't interact with an English speaking public in a retail job if you don't speak English well. I'm with Shane here.

It's bad management to put a non-speaker in a position where he must interact with English speakers. I'm with martin here.

Customers would flee if they had any choice, which they don't at a PX. I'm with Shane here.​

But three things do occur to me,

1. The best way to learn English is to get out there and start speaking it and having to deal with people like Shane is prime motivation for Jose to get good at it.

"Marlboro! Marlboro, you son of a bitch! I should have shot you in Panama when I had the chance!"​

2. Shane gets a break on prices, however, shopping at the PX and sometimes you pay for such bargains in small ways that you just have to STFU about and live with. OR . . . you could just go to Wal-Mart or some place with Anglo speakers. How much is cheap milk worth to you?

3. Shane could take a Spanish class, he has to have a foreign language for his Ph. D, anyway. Then he could tell them "Marlboro! Marlboro, usted hijo de una ramera! Yo le debo haber disparado en Panamá cuando tuve la oportunidad!" The guy would probably chit.

 

English is what we should speak most places and for most business in this country. But, in much of the Southwest US, one is simply a dumbass if he don't understand about 500 basic Spanish words. You don't have to speak the language but if you live in South Texas and don't know aqua from agave or cinco from cincuenta, you are going to be confused, victimized, and dumber than the illiterate migrant worker that you just asked directions from.

I once could read Spanish s-l-o-w-l-y, but I never could speak it worth a damn, still I have enough vocabulary to order food and drinks and figure out the signs. It is only courteous in a Hispanic store in a Hispanic neighborhood to say gracias and por favor to a Hispanic person. It is only smart to look for the exit in a Hispanic bar when you hear a big guy named Asesino mutter about gringos. If I want cheese in a Taquería, I say con queso without thinking about it.

Conversely when Pedro is living in Arkansas, he needs to know enough English words to get by or he is a dumbass: one-through-ten, cheeseburger, beer, stop, water, help, please, thank you, and fugg off at the very least.