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Thursday, June 2, 2011

This morning, I dropped by a branch of my bank (which I refuse to name since it deserves no free advertising whatsoever...yeah, and go ahead and sue me: enjoy a piece of my debt load!) in the Elmhurt section of Queens and was, for a moment, a little surprised to see that all the signs were ONLY in Spanish. But then, the omnivorous small business owner in me came out, and I thought, "Yes, they truly understand their audience." I can't lie, despite the fact that I've lived all over the world and speak Russian (well, not as good as I used to, but enough to yell at the cats and listen in to old ladies gossiping on the subway), it does drive me crazy when I have to press 1 for English. (And before you decide that I'm racist: 1) I voted for Obama and 2) I was raised in a bilingual, Jewrican household, and can ignore my mother in both Spanish & English, but 3) when I lived for several years in Mother Russia, I did not expect anyone there to learn English on my account: I went native, ONLY spoke Russian --by the end, I was forgetting basic English words & dreaming in Russian-and it served me very well. ) But as a small biz owner, I found myself thinking, "Hey, if you want people to use your services, you gotta do what you gotta do." Perhaps that's the reason, that this particular branch is the nicest, most effective one I've used so far. (And before you send me your hate mail: I think preserving your heritage and raising bi-lingual children is one of the most important things ever...so simma down.)

1 comment:

  1. I speak Spanish too, and expect to know it in Venezuela, Mexico, etc...but to press 1 for English here does drive.me.bonkers!! Feh!

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