The time has come for me to vent against one of my several pet peeves, so here goes.

It is essential for major companies to hire individuals who interact with the American public to ensure those employees can communicate effectively with the public they are serving. In other words, employees should be able to speak English!

I live in a North Texas community that is chock full of families who speak English as a second language. It is quite common for me to walk through the only major grocery store in our community and never hear English spoken by people I pass while shopping for food. Hey, no problem with that, man.

It’s different, though, when I need assistance from an employee at that store and I ask him or her for, oh, where can I find a can of mushrooms. I occasionally get that blank stare from the employee who doesn’t understand a word I just said. I have to look for an English-speaking employee or, if there’s no one available, find the item myself. Maybe I have time to look for it. Maybe I’m on a tight deadline and need the help right away.

I returned recently from a brief trip to Roanoke. Va., where I stayed at a fairly nice mid-priced hotel. They serve breakfast at this hotel. I dished up some scrambled eggs, got a bisquit and some fruit. I sat down, took a bie of the eggs … and they were cold. I summoned the hotel staffer working the kitchen to tell him my eggs were cold. He looked at me, nodded his head — and smiled! I might as well have been speaking Martian to the guy.

Look, I totally get that the United States of America is an increasingly pluralistic society. I welcome the world here. I do not believe we need to write a law declaring English to be the official language of this nation.

However, we’re still a nation where English is the predominent language. I want our business community to recognize that reality when they seek to do business.