I am among the most liberated, enlightened progressive individuals any of you ever will know.
That all said, I want to express a concern I have about this “melting pot” society we embrace as Americans. It involves retailers and the staffers they hire to interact with the public.
I ventured the other day into a major retail outlet in the North Texas city where I live. I was looking for a particular item. I approached a woman wearing the colors of the store I entered and asked her where the item was that I needed to purchase.
She had no idea what I had asked of her. She threw up her hands in that gesture that told me: I do not speak your language; therefore, I am of no help at all.
Oh, my.
I trudged off looking for the item. I found it. I purchased it. I went home.
Here is my point.
We live in a community where English is the predominant language. You can walk into any public place in the United States and the vast majority of those gathered there speak English.
Therefore, I want to make a request of retailers. I believe they should deploy English-speaking staffers to jobs where they must interact with the public. I totally favor hiring non-English speakers, giving them a chance to earn a decent living. I am not going to take the nativist tone we hear too often.
I just want to be able to communicate with individuals who are employed by retail outlets where I do business. Is that too much to ask?
There. My rant is over.