Having ranted on English not being the language of the US, you might find it weird that I would have a problem with non-English speakers in retail positions that require you to converse with the public.
But I do.
While I don’t think that people should be forced to learn English, I think it’s stupid to hire people who can’t speak the common language of an area for a job that requires speaking to the average customer; nor do I buy that this is discrimination in a way that is prosecutable.
I walked into an unnamed fast food joint the other day and found myself arguing with the manager (who happened to be black) about his crew’s inability to speak English sufficiently well to get a simple burger order right. He stated that “we aren’t allowed to discriminate in our hiring practices.” He couldn’t figure out why I found that funny.
Discrimination is selecting something from a larger group of something, based on chosen attributes. That’s it. If a business picks one person to work for them, from a group larger than one person, then they are practicing discrimination in making that selection. They practice discrimination against the smelly, the ugly, the untrustworthy, etc. I would like to suggest that they add ability to converse clearly in English to the list of important requirements for hiring.
Having been fired from my only stint at a fast food restaurant for necking with my girlfriend in the mop room when I was 17, hormonal and stupid (and would sooner work on a hog farm than work in fast food again) I can understand how hard it is to get even average people to do the work at one of these places. But I don’t do business with people I can’t converse with, and there are other places that know how to make a Texas burger properly without my having to explain it to them.
…in whatever language they speak.
Oh! And IMHO, the best place to get a Texas Burger is Whataburger. With Cheese and Jalapenos, Please.
