Ranxerox wrote:3. When we, as a nation, wrenched Texas away from Mexico, and when we later accepted that territory as a state

Texas was an independent republic when it joined the United States in 1845, and had been for 9 years after winning independence from Mexico in the 1836 Texas revolution.

we accepted a borderland with an arbitrarily denoted border

This is the Rio Grande river:



mb

unarmedman wrote:I used to work as a bank teller at Washington Mutual several years ago. I could not get my old job there now, as you have to be bilingual to work at any washington mutual in this area. I didn't have to learn spanish in school. Why should I have to learn it to be a teller? I shouldn't have to. It's job discrimination.

Horse-hockey. WaMu (presumably) has a healthy percentage of customers who primarily speak Spanish, and they want to be able to serve those customers.

It's no more job discrimination than a blind person being denied a job driving a truck.

mb

Cunningham wrote:Many send their earnings back to their families in Mexico anyways.

This is a huge part of the problem. Thanks for bringing that up.

matthewbarnhart wrote:It's no more job discrimination than a blind person being denied a job driving a truck.

Are a majority of Americans blind? Sorry, but that was an awful comparison.

But hey! You know its called WaMu! You must bank there!



edit: the employees refer to it as "wham-you", btw.

2nd edit (cause I just can't get enough of this thread):

You mentioned Washington Mutual wanting to cater to spanish-speaking customers. Of course that's why they have the bilingual requirements. That's why I brought it up in the context of my earlier post.

Cunningham wrote:Living in San Diego, I hear people mouth off about this shit all the time. To those who are criticizing illegal immigrants... please SHUT.THE.FUCK.UP. You do not know what you are talking about and are dealing entirely in generalities.

I've been to Tijuana many times and I can tell you, its the SHITTER. Corrupt, diseased, starving, sometimes dangerous. Why anyone would want to leave? My God! I just can't get my head around it! If i lived there I would tunnel my ass outta there with a spoon with the quickness... no doubt in my mind.

no one here has said anything favorable about tijuana. you're getting over-emotional. let's discuss it.

Many send their earnings back to their families in Mexico anyways.

that's why mexico likes the status quo. it's a win-win situation for presidente fox as long as he keeps the people poor and hungry, he will still benefit from all the workers moving to usa.

Looking out my window I can see two corners where Mexicans stand every morning looking for work. Those guys aren't as cheap as you'd think, most won't work for less than 12-13 dollars an hour doing construction. Thats still shit, but not in the 5 dollar range.

marsupial made that same point. it's noted. illegals make up a wide spectrum of the work force. i'm still concerned that day-workers are vulnerable to exploitation by corrupt managers and selective law enforcement. it's all because we let it happen before our very eyes.

if someone will worker harder than you for less money, then either step it up or fuck right off. I have firsthand experience with this working as a busser in nice restaurants. All of the illegals I worked with had the most unbelievable work ethic. Most had multitasking abilites that were outta control. On top of that, most had at least three jobs and worked 12 hours a day without a day off. I knew I couldn't hang with them, so I tried harder and got better at the job in 3 days than I could have in 3 weeks normally because of the competition.

i want good workers to come here and work legally too. current policy prevents that from happening smoothly. what's the solution?

and unarmedman, necesitas aprender espanol amigo. es el futuro.

unarmedman wrote:

Johnny 13 wrote:English is the unofficial official language of the US.

Exactly. Well put.

So, it's unofficial, meaning it isn't the official language, right? There's nothing official about it, is there?

Might I add here that in my opinion capitalism has aggravated the spanish-speaking immigration problem, to try and reap profits from this growing market. Dual English/Spanish signs, voice messages, etc. There was talk of opening an all spanish labeled Publix grocery store somewhere in Kissimmee down here in FL.

Your point being? The customer is always right. If the customer speaks spanish, and you want his business, then your staff had better speak spanish. That's American capitalism at its most pure.

I used to work as a bank teller at Washington Mutual several years ago. I could not get my old job there now, as you have to be bilingual to work at any washington mutual in this area. I didn't have to learn spanish in school. Why should I have to learn it to be a teller?

So you'll understand what your customers are trying to say when they give you their business. It isn't difficult to grasp, really.

I shouldn't have to. It's job discrimination.

No, it's a job requirement, just like being able to count to ten. You want that particular job, you have to know how to do it. That includes speaking spanish. I'm sorry you didn't learn it in school, but I'm sure you're trainable even as an adult.

unarmedman wrote:

matthewbarnhart wrote:It's no more job discrimination than a blind person being denied a job driving a truck.

Are a majority of Americans blind? Sorry, but that was an awful comparison.

Sure, it's awful (it's late, I'm tired, can't even see straight), but the point remains: you wouldn't get the job because you lack the skills required for the job, not because of discrimination.

mb

people wrote:you wouldn't get the job because you lack the skills required for the job, not because of discrimination.

AND

No, it's a job requirement, just like being able to count to ten. You want that particular job, you have to know how to do it. That includes speaking spanish.

Eh, I get you're points there. I'm way through being a teller anyway.

"Putana da Seatbeltz!"

Actually, I'm not done. Sorry!

steve wrote:Your point being? The customer is always right. If the customer speaks spanish, and you want his business, then your staff had better speak spanish. That's American capitalism at its most pure.

Take my own example out of my original post, since it's not really a good example.

What I meant was that capitalism has led to something of a culture of expectation. The expectation to be able to carry out normal jobs, lives, and daily transactions in the United States without having to learn much (if any) English.

I think that's counter-productive to our economy, our education system, etc.

Someone is judging Mexico because he's been to Tijuana? This is like going to Queens and saying "Oh, so THAT'S what the United States is like!" My advice: go deeper into Mexico.

There're some truly retarded posts on this thread.

I must be missing something: people are upset that the "Star Spangled Banner" has been translated into Spanish? How is this a problem? I don't get it.

I think it's a good idea to learn English if you want to live in the U.S. (or are currently living in the U.S.), just as I'd make a concerted effort to learn German if I wanted to live in Germany. I don't see anything controversial in such a statement. But hey, sometimes people come here and don't/can't/won't learn english. It's their decision. I agree with what Steve said: between putting food on your family's table and taking English lessons, one is a far more immediate priority. English is not the official language of the United States (this is a good thing).

In San Antonio, a vast portion of the population speaks no english whatsoever. And that's fine. The surrounding communities are spanish speaking so it's no problem whatsoever for these residents to get along in their day-to-day lives. The problem is that by not learning english, they're in many ways confined to these communities. And that sucks cause it prevents thousands of people from being able to interact with the rest of the population. I fail to see how this is a "right wing" statement, though I suspect someone here might call it that.

Basically I just like the idea of human beings being able to communicate with other human beings. I think only good can come from it. Maybe better dick jokes?

In somewhat related news, Israeli author Etgar Keret wrote out my name in Hebrew tonight and it looks awesome. He also drew a ridiculous caricature of me that looks nothing like me whatsoever.