Thread: Spanish speakers test Geno's

Don't forget to leave a comment!

In a challenge to owner, protesters get their cheesesteaks. To test Joey Vento's mantra that he has never refused service to anyone, a group of out-of-towners descended on his South Philadelphia steak shop with one goal: to order cheesesteaks in Spanish, then see what happens.

"What we seek is to be served when we order in Spanish," said Gilberto Garcia, a North Jersey lawyer who organized the event Saturday at Geno's Steaks, timed for the Fourth of July weekend.

Garcia stood to the side while 30 other Spanish-speaking immigrants lined up, wearing white T-shirts saying, "Pan, Bisteck y Queso, Por Favor" ("Bread, Steak and Cheese, Please").

On the sun-filled day, customers from as far as Montreal had bought their $7 cheesesteaks. Some said they had visited to support Geno's signs that say: "This is America. When ordering please 'speak English.' " Below them, other signs say: "Management reserves the right to refuse service

Owner Vento posted the signs more than six months ago. In interviews, he has said the newest immigrants are coddled with services available in Spanish.

Cruz Rodriguez, 34, of Baltimore, was the first protester in line Saturday. The native of Puebla, Mexico, said he could not speak English.

He was there "because if we don't speak English, we're going to see what they do," he said in Spanish.

Approaching the order window, he said, "Pan, pan."

Carmen Salavarrieta, a member of El Centro Hispanoamericano, a community outreach program in Plainfield, N.J., tried to help.

"Pan, bistec, queso," she told the Geno's staffer.

The order-taker gave Rodriguez a cheesesteak. The protesters applauded.

Garcia, 46, heard about the signs last month from a caller to his Englewood Cliffs office. He contacted Salavarrieta, who networked among immigrant communities to gather most of the protesters. One by one, they spoke Spanish at the order window, and a cheesesteak was handed over for cash.

No one was denied service.

Last month, Philadelphia's Human Relations Commission filed a complaint saying Vento's signs violate the city's Fair Practices Act. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission supported the agency's decision.

Local immigrant organizers, however, were not happy about the out-of-towners' event.

"I feel like this protest is a media stunt," said Peter Bloom, director of Juntos, a South Philadelphia community center for Latin American immigrants. "My concern is I don't know what it's going to resolve."


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... iladelphia

I'm sorry but I think these guys are jerks for pulling this.

He was there "because if we don't speak English, we're going to see what they do," he said in Spanish.

To me this sounds like a refusal to speak English if they could in order to trap him in something. That's just nasty.

Of course this crap was perpetrated by a lawyer. Rotten skunks!

You know what I think I'm going to do? Every time I call a business I'm going to press the "for Spanish" button and expect they start talking to me in English. If they don't, I'm going to talk to a lawyer and force that business to speak to me in English no matter what button I push. Well, I would if I had the money to keep a lawyer on retainer but it's a nice idea, don't you think? I wonder if the ACLU would take my case. Or maybe the lawyer who just thought up doing that to that poor man.

Here, I just emailed the people behind the stunt:

rachel.lawton@phila.gov

It seems that every time I call a business they say I can press 1 for English and 2 for Spanish. I should be able to make the people who insist on me speaking Spanish in order to do business speak English to me wherever I go by whoever I talk to. Also, when I frequent the local Mexican restaurants sometimes the cahsiers don't speak English. They should be forced to speak my language! My rights are violated! There should be only one button! Hope you take my case because it would be racist not to since you helped those immigrants who refused to speak English in a country that they are guests in. I mean, Mexico wouldn't tolerate this. It's a double standard and must be stopped!

Sincerely,

An American Citizen

Wait a minute.

Approaching the order window, he said, "Pan, pan."

Carmen Salavarrieta, a member of El Centro Hispanoamericano, a community outreach program in Plainfield, N.J., tried to help.

"Pan, bistec, queso," she told the Geno's staffer.

The order-taker gave Rodriguez a cheesesteak.

The guy who pretended he couldn't speak English apparently couldn't order in Spanish either.

As more of the Hispanics are bilingual than Americans in general a bilingual ordering policy can lead to a hiring policy that discriminates in favor of Hispanics.

BTW The classical Spanish for beef steak is "tajada de ganado". Biftec is corrupted English.

They are going to hang themselves in the long run. Boy do I wish I had the money to pull this crap on them. They think they're flexing their majority rule business but they are creating a monster.......