Thread: ENGLISH ONLY A SAFETY ISSUE.

ENGLISH ONLY A SAFETY ISSUE.
I feel I am in Mexico because every where I go, I am surrounded with people who are talking and I do not know what they are saying. It should be against the law to speak any other language, in public places, when you are in a country that speak the language native to that country.
I am in my own country and I do not understand what is going on in my surroundings and it is ridiculous to expect us, English speaking Americans, to have to learn Spanish to be aware of what is going on around us. Case in point; I am in K-mart and I hear the “Blue noteâ€

I agree Totally
With all the terrorist activity and such that is going on…
English only around his Great Country !!!
We need to lobbly for this with the powers that be...

Speaking of safety... this is a true story. A friend of mine was waiting for his son to get off the school bus (at the end of his driveway). The school bus stopped, the little stop sign came out to let cars know it was stopping, and the kids began filing off. Here comes a car driven by non english speaking illegal aliens and she passes the school bus as the kids are getting off. She can't speak English, doesn't know our driving laws obviously, and had no idea what she had done when my friend chased her down the road. A child, or children could have easily been killed.

Originally Posted by BorderFox

Speaking of safety... this is a true story. A friend of mine was waiting for his son to get off the school bus (at the end of his driveway). The school bus stopped, the little stop sign came out to let cars know it was stopping, and the kids began filing off. Here comes a car driven by non english speaking illegal aliens and she passes the school bus as the kids are getting off. She can't speak English, doesn't know our driving laws obviously, and had no idea what she had done when my friend chased her down the road. A child, or children could have easily been killed.

This infuriates me. I have a good friend whose 9 year old son was killed because someone didn't stop for the bus..in this case, the person wasn't an illegal, but this is a dangerous situation.

If there are sign on our highways in Spanish and English, it would cause a safety problem trying to find the language you understand while driving. Too many signs on the highway is a distraction that creates a safety issue.. There are already signs in Spanish and English in road work areas.
It is doubly confusing and a distraction to people that speak Spanish and English.

This is something I have been thinking about in the last week, too. At the project I am working on we have a weekly safety meeting. A number of the subcontractors have a large number of Hispanic employees--and we have some other immigrants, too--and I wonder how much of the safety topics they understand. This is an industry in which someone can easily get hurt, so they need to know what the current relevant safety issues are.

I wonder what OSHA would have to say about this: Employees who do't understand instructions regarding safety.

There are many people who have food allergies or some illness that makes it so they can't eat certain foods. When you order food or ask questions and they can't understand you how are you to be sure they give you what you ordered? I have a neice who has problems with certain dyes and stuff when she gets her nails done. They just nod and smile and agree with whatever you say because they don't have a clue what you are saying.

I have grabbed kids from getting hit by cars in parking lots and had the parents mad because they couldn't understand English to explain why I touched their child. I've had kids racing bikes in a store and couldn't communicate with them to stop even after they've hit people. So many are aching to fight that it puts yourself in jeopardy just trying to help them. I got hit at Chrismas time because this huge family was pushing the little ones in these double strollers they have in the mall and one of the kids was screaming because they had their shoe string wrapped in the wheel and it was twisting their foot. I saw what it was and was just trying to show them and got womped with the ladies purse. LOL I mean I can understand in todays society why people are protective of their children but it sure doesn't help when you can't communicate with them for their own safety and put yours at risk.

I really don't care how many languages are spoken but there has to be 1 common language and that is English. I too am fed-up of not being able to understand whats going on around me because people won't speak English.

Originally Posted by crazybird

I really don't care how many languages are spoken but there has to be 1 common language and that is English. I too am fed-up of not being able to understand whats going on around me because people won't speak English.

I don't care how many languages are spoken, but it make me really uncomfortable when it is spoken in public places. It make me feel that I have no control of my surroundings and it have not alway been that way.
I never know what I am going to get when I order through the drive-through at fast food business because they do not understand what I am ordering. I have to check my food before driving away. I have tried to get information as to were to find a product at Walmart and the workers could not speak English.

bumping up

[quote="dyehard39"]I never know what I am going to get when I order through the drive-through at fast food business because they do not understand what I am ordering. I have to check my food before driving away.

Why don't we all stop buying from fast food places that employ illegals? I only got in the habit because I hasd some extraordinary circumstances that caused me to be extremely pressed for time. Now that situation has finally resolved and I can eat better by going to the grocery store where there are real clerks, not just order takers. Fast food--even the best of it--is far from healthy and has a lot of calories.