I called up Charter Cable last week to cancel my service after Fios TV was installed.  They were fairly nice about it, although the rep on the phone was trying really hard to find ways to get me to keep their service.  They even offered to send out someone to pick up the cable box. 

However, a couple of days ago, a Charter contractor showed up and rang my doorbell.  The first words out of his mouth?  “¿Habla español?”

I took Spanish in high school, but that was a long time ago, and without using it I’ve forgotten almost everything.  I suppose I know enough Spanish to start a fight in a bar, but beyond that, I’m pretty much useless.  Fortunately, this guy understood some English (provided I remembered to speak slowly).  It turned out that he wanted to get into my back yard to access the pole and the cable distribution box that’s on it.

Is it really asking too much that I not have to know a second language in my own damn house in my own neighborhood?  Companies should make sure that anyone they’re sending out knows English. 

And I’m getting really tired of all the jumping-up-and-down and yelling “racist” whenever someone suggests that people speak English.  If a person wants to speak Klingon amongst themselves and any consenting parties, that’s fine with me.  But when you’re doing business, speak English, dammit!  Those who would demand that I learn Spanish to get along in my own country should step back and think for a minute.  Where does this stop?  How can a country survive having to accomodate all the potential languages that immigrants bring with them?

In a way, it’s kind of like telemarketing.  When viewed from their end it seems like a minor thing—because they are only thinking about themselves (i.e. their call or their language).  But for those of us on the receiving end of it, it can be overwhelming.  There’s nothing racist about that.  It’s simple logistics.