English vs Spanish

A customer walked into the Publix grocery where I worked as a clerk while I lived in Hialeah, Florida (Miami).

The customer looked flustered and stressed out.

She looked at me in the eye and asked me, “Why don’t your coworkers speak English? I am looking for sunflower seeds and every person I ask shrugs their shoulders and don’t answer my question.”

I looked at her with shock at the question and I tried to hold my anger.

I began to walk her to the snack food area and then commenced to talk out of my ass.

“You know, English is a very hard language to learn. In this city, they say that 90% of the residents speak Spanish only. I think that if you want to get something done, you should go pay for all of their English classes,” I said.

I told her the truth the same way I would’ve done if she asked why my own mother doesn’t speak English-which she does....well, un poquito.

As you can imagine, my days at the store started to expire.  I became terminated for disrespecting a customer. My rage exploded and my blood boiled on that day.

In an unproductive way, I defended my first official language and I lost. If I would’ve been a jerk, I could’ve shrugged my shoulders and not spoken. 

Yet, I felt vindicated to tell the truth.

I wanted to educate her because I couldn’t stand her ignorance.

There are more truths to this matter though.

It’s true that Leif Erikson and his Scandinavian vikings spoke the first European language in North America in the 1300s. A few centuries later, Spanish settlers spoke and established their language and culture in the US mainland, Central and South America beginning in 1492 with the discovery of San Salvador (Central America) and later Florida in 1493 (North America).

English explorers and settlers brought their language and culture starting in the 1620s.

As our nation flourished, newcomers spoke French, Italian, German, Irish, Polish, and Russian, Chinese and Japanese, among others.

With time, most of these immigrants learned English and adopted it as their common language.

Lastly, the first official language in any part of the Western Hemisphere were the languages of Native Americans.

Today we don’t care of knowing and even acknowledging any of these truths. Perhaps we do, but they are quickly forgotten or just plain ignored.

The Native Americans, 1% of our US population, still speak their ancestor’s language and practice the culture that was handed down to them.

In a way, these coworkers of mine are going through the same thing that they and most other immigrants to America have done-passed down their language and culture to future generations.

I am sure that if I said all these things to that customer, I still would’ve been fired. Hell, maybe she planned the whole thing.

The truth is that I am glad that I stood up to this bully because if not, I would’ve probably not told you this story and I still would’ve lived in Hialeah.

I am here today in Dallas, Texas because I spoke the truth, and I always will.