I went to Dunkin’ Donuts to get my coffee fix. I think they should have their employees come in an hour early or leave an hour late. During this time they could take English lessons. I am very accepting of accents and I love when people *try* to speak English but these people at Dunkin’ Donuts are simply not getting it. Today I asked for a blueberry muffin. The girl grabbed a chocolate chip muffin. “No, I want a blueberry muffin.” The woman looked at me like I was insane! She then pointed at the sign that said Chocolate Chip and said, “BLOOO BERRY!” A couple weeks ago I ordered a dozen assorted donuts. The guy who waited on me didn’t understand the word dozen or donuts. You’d think of all the words, those would be the two he’d really know. Instead he cocked his head to the side and said, “DOE-ZEN?” I then said, “Twelve.” I thought the situation was cleared up but he reached for the 25 count munchkin box. “No no no no!” Finally another employee came by and helped him and I got my healthy breakfast.
donnaville
sugar and spice and everything groovy
Once I got so pissed off at my inability to communicate with the workers at Corrado’s market in North Jersey that I told the manager that I was going to call immigration on them, and demanded to see working papers. Suffice it to say he was a little jittery. I got some free “Fresas” (what I’d been looking for, but nobody in the store could help me find), but it totally wasn’t worth it.
Oh, come on, where’s your sense of adventure? Just pretend you’re taking a little exotic vacation when you go in Dunkin Donuts. Some of the people that work there are most likely on a work Visa and it’s their first experience with English. Their uncle or cousin or whoever worked there to make enough money to bring them over here. Give them a break.
It is nice to be kind but any business that operates with inefficient serving people are losing money and wasting my time. If I want to be entertained by trying to make myself understood, I’ll go visit some foreign country. This is America, speak the language or stay home. This is the way I feel, sorry if you don’t agree.
In Philly…
if you’re a business owner, and you want your customers to communicate with you in English (rather than Swahili or Tonganese or any of 112 other languages) you are a RACIST according to the
ridiculously named Human Rights Commission.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/cheesesteak-shop-owner-defends-policy/20071215115009990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Glad I don’t live in Philly.
However, this steaming load of political correctness has unfortunately infected a lot of American society.
In America, the language is
English. What part of that statement don’t pinheaded left-wingers understand???
First, thanks for that post, Bill O’Reilly (“pinheaded left-wingers”). Second, in reply to Mom, just don’t patronize that business. It is the business owner’s decision who to hire, and at Dunkin Donuts it is usually their family members. Personally, I love Dunkin Donuts products enough that the communication gap isn’t going to stop me, so I’d rather adopt a positive mindset about it. Remember, there is SOME adjustment period when moving to a new country. I think it probably took our foreign-language-speaking ancestors some time to learn the language.
The problem is that in America, the language is *not* English. In addition to creating all sorts of legal issues (Mirandizing criminals being one of the biggest, but voting is a close second), it divides us as a nation.
My ancestors learned English when they came here because they needed to, and that was less than a century ago. Now, the government goes out of its way to get rid of the incentives to learn English.
But Audra really hits it: If you don’t like to translate whatever the hell your clerk is saying, or tell him or her what his or her products are (or their costs – another issue of mine), “just don’t patronize that business.”
There are lots of Dunkins!
That said, being a Philly guy (although I don’t live in Philly now), I suggest Wawa! 🙂
I go back to my original suggestion. English lessons! Help these people out– give them some lessons so they can work better and keep the customers happy. It’s a proactive solution.
Are there any Dunkin’ Donuts Owners or Managers listening?
Most illegal immigrants are not interested in learning English or assimilating at all. Assimilation means a lot of things they don’t want, such as paying taxes, having to get car insurance, and essentially having any liability before the law. Moreover, if they were citizens their employers would be forced to pay them minimum wage. Say goodbye to the job at Dunkin!
Also, note how this person is working 7 days a week… she doesn’t have time for English lessons.
The illegal immigrants are essentially slaves, sad to say, but I imagine many of them feel that slavery is better here in the U.S. than back home…
I never thought any of them were illegals. I always assumed they were operating on the up and up. Certainly making some poor hiring decisions but still operating within the law. Perhaps I was being naive…