Where's the Line?

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I contend that the "line" is at the border, within certain limits. Demanding English at work is fine, changing the names, that's stupid and offensive to me. Suppose your boss's father or mother had your name, would you suddenly want to be BOB, or MARY at work? That's stupid and offensive.
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Although many Asians do JUST this when they come here. I've met guys from the middle east who do it too. But that's SELF imposed, as opposed to being demanded.
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Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they’d be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.

No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark.

Whitten’s management style had worked for him as he’s turned around other distressed hotels he bought in recent years across the country.

The 63-year-old Texan, however, wasn’t prepared for what followed.

His rules and his firing of several Hispanic employees angered his employees and many in this liberal enclave of 5,000 residents at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, where the most alternative of lifestyles can find a home and where Spanish language, culture and traditions have a long and revered history.

“I came into this landmine of Anglos versus Spanish versus Mexicans versus Indians versus everybody up here. I’m just doing what I’ve always done,” he says.

Former workers, their relatives and some town residents picketed across the street from the hotel.

“I do feel he’s a racist, but he’s a racist out of ignorance. He doesn’t know that what he’s doing is wrong,” says protester Juanito Burns Jr., who identified himself as prime minister of an activist group called Los Brown Berets de Nuevo Mexico.

After he arrived, Whitten met with the employees. He says he noticed that they were hostile to his management style and worried they might start talking about him in Spanish.

“I asked the people in my presence to speak only English because I do not understand Spanish,” Whitten says. “I’ve been working 24 years in Texas and we have a lot of Spanish people there. I’ve never had to ask anyone to speak only English in front of me because I’ve never had a reason to.”
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I think the language thing is a good idea. It's the language of the country and it should be used. I think it puts off the CUSTOMERS when the employees speak a language they, the customers do not speak. I've heard people grumbling and griping too many times about the employees speaking Spanish just AFTER speaking English to the customer.
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As to the Boss and his understanding Spanish, not speaking Spanish, well that's HIS RIGHT. I think he's a boob, for NOT speaking it, but again, in America, we have a God given right to be foolish. I simply don't understand people who don't "pick up" the language from hearing it.

I speak a smattering of Spanish and French, ALL from working with Spanish speakers here, and from travelling and working in Quebec. It's not all that hard to do. I'm no genius and I did it.

Having said that, any number of times, I caught people around me, talking trash about me or my crew, because they assumed we didn't habla or parlez. I'm the kind of guy who made a snide joke BACK, to let them know that I was in the loop. Making jokes about someone's clothes or the width of their mothers ass, in retaliation of like jokes about me or my crew, is usually a tie breaker. I always took the tack, that turnabout is fair play. It usually cracked up the jokesters friends,, and invariably helped the working atmosphere all around.
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Schteveo is a multi-lingual pain in the culo, ciuccio, cul...
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