Is anyone else as outraged by this as I am?

[wetibbe]

Phil:

Your initial reaction was most probably spot on. However, we want to only caution against developing a fixed prejudice and knee jerk reaction.

It isn't OK at all. It is blatant prejudice which could be challenged in a court by anyone with the money and intestinal fortitude.

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by LAPhil

wetibbe:

Can you imagine what would happen if some pizza parlor or restaurant had a promotion where you would get your food free if you ordered it in English? The screams of racism and discrimination would be loud enough to make your ears bleed! So why is it OK to give something away free if you don't order it in English and charge for it if you do?

There is a point here.

Remember the furor over the walk up stand which had a sign stating that ordering was to be in English only? Charges of racism from under every rock and loud proclamations of boycott. I don't remember, but I believe there was actually a court decision that the sign had to come down.

If they offend me, I just don't patronize them.

[wetibbe]

Genos Steaks. Philly Cheese steaks,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geno's_Steaks

He posted the sign in 2005. The Philadelphia Commissioner of Human Rights filed a complaint but later ruled that Joey didn't violate any-one's rights. But business did increase. Joey died in 2011.

Personally the sign didn't bother me although I thought that as a businessman it was a little bit ill advised.

Here's Joey with his sign. http://www.genosteaks.com/

Since I speak Spanish I can order a free pizza from the pizza joint !!!! Anyone else just grab a translation book or learn to speak the order. I'll help you.

Deseo una pizza.

Déme una pizza regular con queso y tomate.


Story Time !

Giuseppe came to America from Italy. Didn't speak a word of English. He went to a restaurant but couldn't read the menu. A fellow next to him ordered bean soup. When the waiter came to Giuseppe he said: " bean soup". After 3 weeks of bean soup daily Giuseppe decided that he needed to learn some more words. Fellow next to him ordered ham sandwich. Giuseppe's turn came and he said; " ham sandwich". The waiter said:" Do you want that on white or rye bread"? Poor Giuseppe, bewildered, replied - "bean soup".

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by wetibbe

Genos Steaks. Philly Cheese steaks,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geno's_Steaks

He posted the sign in 2005. The Philadelphia Commissioner of Human Rights filed a complaint but later ruled that Joey didn't violate any-one's rights. But business did increase. Joey died in 2011.

Personally the sign didn't bother me although I thought that as a businessman it was a little bit ill advised.

Here's Joey with his sign. http://www.genosteaks.com/

Since I speak Spanish I can order a free pizza from the pizza joint !!!! Anyone else just grab a translation book or learn to speak the order. I'll help you.

Deseo una pizza.

Déme una pizza regular con queso y tomate.

¡Sea rápido - hijo de una puta!

Story Time !

Giuseppe came to America from Italy. Didn't speak a word of English. He went to a restaurant but couldn't read the menu. A fellow next to him ordered bean soup. When the waiter came to Giuseppe he said: " bean soup". After 3 weeks of bean soup daily Giuseppe decided that he needed to learn some more words. Fellow next to him ordered ham sandwich. Giuseppe's turn came and he said; " ham sandwich". The waiter said:" Do you want that on white or rye bread"? Poor Giuseppe, bewildered, replied - "bean soup".

"Hijo de puta" and not one "porfavor"

That's one way to not only get the saliva dressing, but get a real chingaso served up too. Might want to have your running shoes on.

One thing I learned real fast is to not use words I either didn't know or the cultural impact of your surroundings. Lots of Mexicans will try to get you to say disrespectful things that will get your ass kicked when you try it out elsewhere. I always verify something linguistically new.

Good story.

[LAPhil]

I can see this is getting a lot of traction. Oh, well.

[ilbegone]

Originally Posted by LAPhil

I can see this is getting a lot of traction. Oh, well.

To me, I just boycott them

There are places I just haven't patronized since that "may day without a Mexican" stunt a few years ago.

And I told each and every business just why I was boycotting them permanently, doesn't accomplish anything to just walk away without saying anything.

The overall backlash worked, they haven't tried it since.

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Originally Posted by wetibbe

Be careful friends. Here's a story or two.

My Son just came back from Paris, France vacation. He says ALL menus are in English and French. Further practically all Frenchmen in the tourism business, boutiques, shops, restaurants, museums, tours, speaks English ! Paris was FULL of Americans and Asians.

When my wife and I went to Spain on vacation, Costa Brave, we started at the French border and proceeded South along the coast, stopping at every Town and Village. It's a huge tourist area. All of the restaurants along the boulevards paralleling the beach/sea shore had the menus in Spanish, French, English, German, Italian and Dutch. In some of the restaurants the apparent owner was also waiting tables. I was amazed that he would go from table to table and speak a different language at each one that had foreign tourists.

I would be a little bit careful about developing a strong prejudice against one particular language. There are lots of 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation Latino / Americans and legal residents too as well as lots of Hispanics very much against illegal immigration. *( However, I will surmise that the manager of the pizza place is probably a Latino/Hispanic or somehow connected ).

Pizza Patron Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_Patr%C3%B3n
Manager of Operations - Ernesto Hernandez !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about happy hour in bars and ladies night when the gals all get free drinks? Capitalists park their scruples at the door, not the cash register?

If there is someone to be mad at it is that slimy little weasel Luis Gutierrez, the Chicago Congressman who is promoting a back door amnesty with the present administration.

There is a difference between squatters/invaders and tourists. The town I live in is 85% Hispanic and at least 50% just arrived within the last 10 years; many of the people from this town who were born here have left. Even most of those that are bilingual will speak English ONLY IF THEY HAVE TO!!! They feel entitled to controlling and dominating everything, from entertainment at functions to demanding interpreters at taxpayer expense and playing the victim if not catered to.

Remember one of my closest friends teaches ESL/ELL and in the 10 yrs. she taught it, she could not get her class filled; it was canceled due to low enrollment. Why low enrollment EVERY semester? BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT LEARNING ENGLISH!!! This isn’t some Midwest or far northern state, this is California! And she couldn’t keep a “FREE to students” ESL/ELL class full enough to meet the 15 students required to keep the class open. That’s how much demand there is by these invaders to learn English!!!

My mother, who was born in New York, spoke 4 languages; was told by my grandmother, whose 1st language was Polish “When you’re in public you and I will speak English, it’s disrespectful not to.” That’s the difference between an immigrant and an entitlement invader.

Speaking other languages is a bonus to understanding the origins of many words; but what has made this country such a wonderful country ‘was’ the continued goal to be innovative and standing together as a strong force. That is how our citizens thought and what immigrants strived for before this “progressive” crap. Today we’ve lost much of that in this new ‘goal’ to be so worldly, we’ve put the importance of speaking others languages and being ‘tolerant’ ahead of being strong and innovative.

By the way, my mother never used any of the other three languages she knew, never needed them. Knowing another language doesn’t take all that much, you just have to be around others that speak it and in the case of this town the bilingual refuse to use English so it’s rarely heard. Even someone with an 80 IQ can learn more than one language if they hear it spoken constantly. But to be strong and innovative, that takes a country with a common language and goals. I don’t want to be Europe or any of its countries, so if that’s your model for how we should ‘change’ my suggestion is move there because becoming more like any other country is moving backwards.

[wetibbe]

I think there may be some cross connecting and co-mingling of two different issues.

The primary subject was about food vendors and their practices of catering to certain languages.

Paul Streitz, a Connecticut activist several years ago, conducted an extensive study of McDonald's, the hamburger chain, cataloging employees who looked Hispanic and spoke Spanish. Since he was professionally in Marketing Research he was very knowledgeable. Results of his study revealed a shockingly high percentage of Spanish speakers. Down along the coast on Long Island sound some restaurants had as much as 90%.

Paul was the leader of a large group of Patriots. When he released his report about half of the members took strong exception to it. They maintained that Paul had solely relied upon appearance and voice and that he really had not vetted the employees and actually didn't know who they were, where they came from or their immigration status. *( In other words racial profiling ). They took such strong exception that they rejected both Paul and his report, split off and started their own separate, autonomous group independently. Essentially the two were at loggerheads.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >

On the two separate issues of tourism/language/business and immigration in Europe, France has monumental problems with the Muslims and Africans who are overrunning the country. Nicolas Sarkozy, the President, has been loading them up and flying them out. The Muslims, you may recall, torched France back a year or two ago. There are areas in the Paris suburbs where the police will not go.

[Ayatollahgondola]

An update:

Ths company still hasn't responded to my request to disclose the participating outlets

In addition, if you absorb the ad in question, it states that you get a free pizza if you place your order in spanish. It is not at all clear on whether you must pay for that order before getting your "free" pizza. I'm guessing the free pizza is one you get after you pay for the order that you placed in spanish

This is just a typical false or misleading ad that is getting extra legs by pretending to be part of the immigration issue. We'll follow it still just to see whether any consumer laws are broken

[usa today]

We actually have those places here in Vegas , Needless to say I will not be getting a free pizza. besides they also advertise that you can buy pizza with pesos and they are huge on advertising you can BUY PIZZA WITH FOOD STAMPS. they are only in the latino areas of Vegas.