CHUD.com Community › Forums › CULTURE, HUMOR, & FREE FORM › Misc. Culture › Si hablas español te votamos
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Si hablas español te votamos

post #1 of 37
3/25/08 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Woman Warned for Speaking Spanish at Work

Stupid ...
Quote:
A cell phone assembly line worker says she is afraid she could lose her job for speaking Spanish at work.

Julie Rios said she has received verbal and written warnings for talking in her native language, even though, she said, she was not informed about the rule when she was hired.

Rios, who was hired by temp company CoWorx, has been working at a North Texas plant for 10 months. But in February, she was issued a written warning about speaking Spanish.

The memo issued by CoWorx read: "You are being issued your first written warning for not adhering to company policy by speaking English only when communicating with others on the production floor."

Expecting a baby in May, Rios expressed concern about speaking out publicly against the policy. However, she said she felt compelled to do so because she believes it is unfair.

"This is my first language -- Spanish -- and it's hard for me sometimes when I'm speaking. I have to stop and think what I'm going to say in English," Rios said.

She said supervisors have been cracking down and told her she could not say "hola," but "hi."

CoWorx's parent company, Foxconn, did not specifically address the allegations made by Rios, but issued the following written statement.

"Foxconn is a minority-owned international company with numerous locations throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Due to the extensive diversity of the company and the great plethora of languages spoken at our various global locations, it is necessary to ensure that business meetings are conducted in a consistent language to ensure solid communication between all parties and avoid any potential misunderstandings."

Despite the policy, Rios claims some workers on the assembly floor can't speak any English and need others to translate. She also said that her coworkers who don't speak Spanish have not complained to her about her speaking another language.

"I don't think it's right. I have the right to speak whatever language I want … They knew we were Mexicans," she said. "They shouldn't have hired Mexican people."
Reply
post #2 of 37
3/25/08 at 9:47pm
Let's not rush to judgment perhaps these workers are conspiring to unionize.
Reply
post #3 of 37
3/25/08 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
[B]"They knew we were Mexicans," she said. "They shouldn't have hired Mexican people."
She's right on both counts.
Reply
post #4 of 37
3/25/08 at 10:23pm
Welcome to America, where you are free to be who you are as long as you act like everybody else.
Reply
post #5 of 37
3/25/08 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 
I've never had this problem at work, then again I don't work in a factory line. But still ...
Reply
post #6 of 37
3/25/08 at 11:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
I've never had this problem at work, then again I don't work in a factory line. But still ...
Well, clearly someone has taken to heart that anyone speaking in a foreign language is shit talking them.

I don't see why someone would employ Mexican Mexicans and then have an issue with them speaking Spanish. Is it the principle? This is an English only country! But please come work for me!
Reply
post #7 of 37
3/26/08 at 8:47am
I used to work in an English speaking Call Center and i wasn't allowed to speak spanish.
Reply
post #8 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:17pm
"Si hablas español te votamos" = If you speak spanish, we will vote you.

"Si hablas español te botamos" = If you speak spanish, we will throw you out.
Reply
post #9 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:20pm
Thanks, BTSMGL. I wanted to call this into question, but I was wondering if there was some colloquial meaning of votar that I wasn't aware of.
Reply
post #10 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:22pm
Thread Starter 
A Puerto Rican has corrected my Spanish.

God, you can take me away now.
Reply
post #11 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:23pm
I was going to mention it too, but i didn't know if capitan was trying to make a comment about the election...
Reply
post #12 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
A Puerto Rican has corrected my Spanish.
...and a really, really white girl from Wisconsin who just checked her Oxford Spanish Dictionary. Is there some colloquial meaning of votar that I'm not aware of?
Reply
post #13 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:29pm
Thread Starter 
No, I made a mistake. This is one of those words that sound exactly the same, but are spelled differently.

Still, if my wife finds out a fellow "puertorro" corrected me, I'll never stop hearing about it ...
Reply
post #14 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTSMGL View Post
"Si hablas español te votamos" = If you speak spanish, we will vote you.

"Si hablas español te botamos" = If you speak spanish, we will throw you out.
Isn't botamos and votamos pronounced relatively the same?
Reply
post #15 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:36pm
yeah, but "botar" is hardly used. At least here in Argentina.
It's more like "echar" o "echamos".
Reply
post #16 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cap
Still, if my wife finds out a fellow "puertorro" corrected me, I'll never stop hearing about it ...
Tranquilo. No vamos a informar ella. Esta vez.
Reply
post #17 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
Tranquilo. No vamos a informar ella. Esta vez.
Good, just replace "informar ella" with "informarle a ella" and you are set.
Reply
post #18 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tati View Post
yeah, but "botar" is hardly used. At least here in Argentina.
It's more like "echar" o "echamos".
We use botar, echar is used in Panama if you say "echar a la basura".
Reply
post #19 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
Good, just replace "informar ella" with "informarle a ella" and you are set.
See! I totally did on purpose that to give you an opportunity to redeem yourself!

Really!

Stop laughing at me!

I was always awful with reflexive verbs...
Reply
post #20 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
A Puerto Rican has corrected my Spanish.

God, you can take me away now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
No, I made a mistake. This is one of those words that sound exactly the same, but are spelled differently.

Still, if my wife finds out a fellow "puertorro" corrected me, I'll never stop hearing about it ...


Quote:
Originally Posted by billylove View Post
Isn't botamos and votamos pronounced relatively the same?
Same difference as saying "vee" or "bee".
Reply
post #21 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
We use botar, echar is used in Panama if you say "echar a la basura".
It's the exact opposite here. But it's hardly used at all.
Reply
post #22 of 37
3/26/08 at 1:56pm
Thread Starter 
The only unresolved question here is why in the world do Puerto Ricans call a trashcan "safacon". I haven't been able to figure where that one comes from.
Reply
post #23 of 37
3/26/08 at 2:25pm
Damn Mexicans. Dey took er jerbs!
Reply
post #24 of 37
3/26/08 at 2:52pm
We should open a spanish only thread. Talk about things only in spanish and fuck the boards up.
Reply
post #25 of 37
3/26/08 at 2:55pm
I've been on other boards with threads like that, Tati. It's fun, but I get the impression that the native speakers are all laughing at me. It's like my high school trip to Spain all over again.
Reply
post #26 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:02pm
Thread Starter 
That's a good idea Tati. I speak Spanish all day at home, but I never get to write in Spanish and my grammar suffers greatly because of this.

MissZooey, we wouldn't laugh at you, usually people really appreciate that you are trying to learn their language.
Reply
post #27 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:03pm
I just like running the Spanish through babelfish and seeing how indecipherable a translation comes back.

Si hablas español te botamos
If you speak Spanish we hurled to you

Tranquilo. No vamos a informar a ella. Esta vez.
Calm. We are not going to inform to her. This time.
Reply
post #28 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
MissZooey, we wouldn't laugh at you, usually people really appreciate that you are trying to learn their language.
What's really tragic is that I studied Spanish for seven years in high school and college. I used to be fluent (six years ago, I wouldn't have made that reflexive mistake above). It was great. But it doesn't come up much so I've gotten really, really rusty. I'm going to take a refresher course one of these days.
Reply
post #29 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
The only unresolved question here is why in the world do Puerto Ricans call a trashcan "safacon". I haven't been able to figure where that one comes from.
I was working in a breadstick factory years ago and I remember my Puerto Rican supervisor being boggled by the way that some Mexican co-workers would toss around the word "cabron" at each other and the rest of us in a casual, friendly way. He thought it was pretty disrespectful. Apparently, the meaning's all in the intent and cultural background.

For some reason, I'm really amused to see that the bizarre cuckold/horns connection in English makes the same kind of bizarre sense in Spanish.

That job was all about shared cultural experiences and new language skills. We introduced the same supervisor to the word "jostle" after one of my co-workers made fun of the new guy for standing around, "jostling himself," and he ended up calling the new guy "Hey, Jostle!" for the rest of the summer.
Reply
post #30 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:08pm
Ihr solltet alle bedenken, dass Preußen2008 sehr patriotisch gegenüber dem Preußen ist. Er sieht diesen Staat als einen eigenständigen und wünscht sich nichts anderes als Deutschland wieder in viele einzelne deutsche Staaten zu teilen - Österreich und die Schweiz sind ja schon einzelne deutsche Staaten. Preußen ist aber nicht teilbar mit der Deutschen Geschichte, solange er es nicht einsieht, hilft es auch nicht Versuche zu starten, die ihn etwas besseres belehren könnten
Reply
post #31 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tati View Post
We should open a spanish only thread. Talk about things only in spanish and fuck the boards up.
If anything it would give me a reason to get familiar with the Spanish language again.
Reply
post #32 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
That job was all about shared cultural experiences and new language skills. We introduced the same supervisor to the word "jostle" after one of my co-workers made fun of the new guy for standing around, "jostling himself," and he ended up calling the new guy "Hey, Jostle!" for the rest of the summer.
This story is better when told aloud, as it should be noted that the man was pronouncing "jostle" "yossel," since he couldn't master the English hard j.
Reply
post #33 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Thain View Post
Ihr solltet alle bedenken, dass Preußen2008 sehr patriotisch gegenüber dem Preußen ist. Er sieht diesen Staat als einen eigenständigen und wünscht sich nichts anderes als Deutschland wieder in viele einzelne deutsche Staaten zu teilen - Österreich und die Schweiz sind ja schon einzelne deutsche Staaten. Preußen ist aber nicht teilbar mit der Deutschen Geschichte, solange er es nicht einsieht, hilft es auch nicht Versuche zu starten, die ihn etwas besseres belehren könnten
Que dijo?
Reply
post #34 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:46pm
Now's the perfect time to pull out my Arabic lessons, just to make this thread even more confusing!
Reply
post #35 of 37
3/26/08 at 3:58pm
Back to what the Captain was saying...

The hostility in this town by some people towards Spanish-speaking citizens (not illegal immigrants mind you, citizens) is despicable. This part of Texas has some of the most racist people I've ever met. I've lived up north and for the most part, I saw a lot of ignorance, not actual hatred for another race (favorite ignorant statement from a rural Pennsylvanian: "What do you mean he's not good at basketball? He's black isn't he?" I didn't even know what to say - I just stared.)

Capitan's story describes just about half of all employers here. I've been mistaken for being Hispanic on many occasions, and I've had dozens of racist remarks thrown my way. I've also been mistaken for Middle Eastern, which was great, especially after 9/11. Sometimes I don't have the heart to tell people I'm part French, fearing more chastisement.
Reply
post #36 of 37
3/26/08 at 6:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElCapitanAmerica View Post
The only unresolved question here is why in the world do Puerto Ricans call a trashcan "safacon". I haven't been able to figure where that one comes from.
Zafacón?

Ummm, I dunno. I guess it's something like the "bag"/"sack" variations you get in the U.S., I guess.
Reply
post #37 of 37
3/27/08 at 3:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Thain View Post
Ihr solltet alle bedenken, dass Preußen2008 sehr patriotisch gegenüber dem Preußen ist. Er sieht diesen Staat als einen eigenständigen und wünscht sich nichts anderes als Deutschland wieder in viele einzelne deutsche Staaten zu teilen - Österreich und die Schweiz sind ja schon einzelne deutsche Staaten. Preußen ist aber nicht teilbar mit der Deutschen Geschichte, solange er es nicht einsieht, hilft es auch nicht Versuche zu starten, die ihn etwas besseres belehren könnten
Wer hat das gesagt? Kaiser Wilhelm?

Ich muss weiss!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Misc. Culture
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CULTURE, HUMOR, & FREE FORM › Misc. Culture › Si hablas español te votamos