Today on my lunch break I took a drive down Forest Lane in Dallas to the nearest Braums.

I noticed 8 workers there, with 7 behind the counter. Of the seven behind the counter three were clamoring in spanish as they cooked all were hispanic. The shift manager (a black lady) was taking my order and I asked "Does that get confusing?" and she replied "yes". I asked "Does it cause problems with orders?" and she said "yes". I then asked her why she did not complain to someone higher up and she said "It's up to the Store Manager and he would just tell me to find someone else to do the job that doesn't speak spanish".

During this brief encounter she seemed upset by the spanish speaking going on right behind her. Then one of the three ladies speaking spanish came to the counter to tell a customer his order was ready (elderly white gentleman) she first read the order number in spanish, then noticed her mistake and read it in english. My order was next and it was read by the same lady flawlessly in english. As I took my bag of food I told the Shift Manager she should speak up becuase now I feel uncomfortable knowing that the staff dedicated to preparing my food, keeping the area clean and protecting my health from germs and pathogens is unable to effectively communicate and that I may not return.

she nodded


I drove away from that store with a deeper conviction that English must be brought back as the language of workers. Instead it seems that Fast Food restaurants think only the counter help needs to know english.