Thread: Philly cheese steak king wins battle over please speak english sign

The person who owns the business should be able to support whatever politics he wants to in HIS business, if you don't want it "shoved down you throat" then eat somewhere else. I agree that in an effort to remove racial discrimination many other rights were shoved to the side. An off topic example is smoking in resturants. It should be up to the owner to decide if they want to allow it and people seeking employment or a meal can decide for themselves if they want to work or eat in a place that allows it. The government should not have to make decisons for us. I am a non smoker by the way.

I think there is a good chance that the sign was put up for immigrants more so than tourists and I think if you are an immigrant into a country, legal or illegal, than you should learn the prodominant language. I think that is what this guy was getting at. Hey, if you want to come here fine its a great place, and if you plan on staying make an effort.

Welcome to the United States, now speak English.

bj

I eat out a lot and my gf loves to "discuss" her order for a long time. You have a million questions, no problem, she has a million ways she wants the food. She will give you a dissertation on the way she wants it cooked and how it should be presented. Drives me a little nuts. If she says she wants it well done, I have to jump in and describe in detail what that means, how to cook it, how it should look on the outside and the inside. Otherwise, she'll send it back and my whole night is on an hour delay.

I, on the other hand, just point at the menu and say "bring me this" No, no questions. Just bring it to me. And yes, bring me whatever sides you want. If I wanted to talk with a waitress, I'd buy a resturant. If I get questions I tell the waiter/waitress to bring me the dish the way he or she likes it. I usually end up with meals that are better then on the standard menu.

For the effort to put up a sign about ordering in English it might have been just as easy to have put up a sign of pictures of the food with little numbers by it. Order in English or point at the sign.

What I find funny about all this is that most resturants in the U.S. are owned by people that do not speak English as their first language.

I have been to a number of foriegn countries in my life time and i have always found a way to communicate, I may not have been entirely proficient, but I have never gone hungry..When in rome.....

Originally Posted by roughneck

if you don't want it "shoved down you throat" then eat somewhere else.

But that is exactly what I'm saying... I'd turn around and eat elsewhere! Whose loss? Not mine, there are a million other establishments who can take my money. But this guy seems to have excluded a percentage of his propsects ever turning into customers. From a business perspective, I think that's kind of dumb. He could have made the same point in a less inflammatory way AND got my money. In my opinion, not a great businessman (or at least not a great marketeer).

Hey, if you want to come here fine its a great place, and if you plan on staying make an effort.

I'm the customer, I shouldn't have to make an effort! The only effort I need make is to decide whether to walk another block to the next restaurant. The proprieter on the other hand, he's trying to persuade me to part with my money. Surely he's the one who has to make the effort? And if he does, I'm gonna come back and keep spending with him, rather than the schmo down the road who gets on my nerves. This guy may be doing OK with his business (who knows?), but he could be doing better.

The great place I am speaking of is the United States of America, not the resturant.

I'm not sure how all this talk of tourists got associated with Geno's and his right to ask customers in his restaurant to order in English. Granted, I haven't been around Philly for a long time, but as I recall the area his stand is located in is in south south Philly, which was certainly not a tourist area when I lived on the East Coast... it was an area comprised primarily of low socio-economic and immigrant neighborhoods. I doubt many tourists visit his shop unless they are with someone local accompanying them. Philly guys, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I have eaten in a lot of restaurants and shopped in a lot of stores in foreign countries... as I said in an earlier post, it would ever occur to me to get pissed off and walk out if they didn't speak my language, didn't have signage/menus in my language, and didn't have personnel who could assist me in my language. Nor would I expect them to quote prices in my currency and know the import laws for my country when I try to take any purchases home. But then, if I didn't speak their language and they couldn't speak mine, I guess I'd walk out too... not because they offended me, but because I was ill prepared and probably shouldn't have gone into their shop to begin with. When I travel, I try not to be the stereotypical arrogant (fill in the nationality of your choice here... American, Englishman, Frenchman, etc.).

I'd bet the situation at Geno's is more likely mostly locals coming into his shop and refusing to speak English as a demonstration of their 'power' and ability to disrupt things. I have witnessed many immigrants give a restaurant/shopkeeper a hard time and claim they couldn't speak english, didn't understand the currency, etc... all in an attempt to get something for free, not pay a bill, etc... and later I'd hear them speaking outside the establishment in broken english that I could easily understand. I see that happen all the time in the area near where I live... it's a game... and not just played by immigrants. I was sitting at a traffic light the other day watching a teenage deliberately cross the street at an intersection so slowly he had cars backed up 15-20 deep. He knew he had the right of way and was (I believe) just showing everyone his "power". After he crossed one direction, he then did the same in another direction... and then trotted on down the street at a normal pace. YMMV

Originally Posted by majurey

But this guy seems to have excluded a percentage of his propsects ever turning into customers. From a business perspective, I think that's kind of dumb. He could have made the same point in a less inflammatory way AND got my money. In my opinion, not a great businessman (or at least not a great marketeer).

You need to understand that this guy's "restaurant/business" is probably one of the most well-known and popular places to eat in all of Philly. By turning away however many customers he does with this sign, he has 20 more lined up around the corner at all hours of the day to take their place. No sweat off his back. I applaud him for building his business along the lines of his own beliefs and having the guts to back it up.

[I'd bet the situation at Geno's is more likely mostly locals coming into his shop and refusing to speak English as a demonstration of their 'power' and ability to disrupt things. I have witnessed many immigrants give a restaurant/shopkeeper a hard time and claim they couldn't speak english, didn't understand the currency, etc... all in an attempt to get something for free, not pay a bill, etc.]

See-this is EXACTLY the type of thinking that underlies anti-immigrant sentiment. Who the hell has investigated, polled, interviewed, etc the particular people who may have used spanish when trying to order something to eat, and found out the customer used spanish just to bust someone's chops? Gee-I bet that's what most spanish-speaking immigrants do--order from Geno's in spanish so they can get a free hoagie. Are you kidding me? And again, who has taken the time or gone to the effort to inquire whether a customer who speaks in spanish does so out of some malicious intent to get a free hoagie (like that would really work!) as opposed to their having arrived in this country just last month, last week, or yesterday? Yes it is Geno's "right" to put up whatever sign he damn well wants to put up, but don't tell me he's doing it for any reasons other than to telegraph his unstated sentiments about a certain group of people. If this kind of thing makes you WANT to give him your business, well that's your business. But I for one am sick of the long-practice in this country by way too many people who simply don't like people who don't talk or dress or act or look like them. This country sadly has a very poor track record in terms of how it treats those who are "different" in certain respects. To my mind, the Geno's sign issue is just a lingering sign of this unfortunate sentiment. He can take his cheese steaks and shove them up his ass for all I care about him and people like him.

Originally Posted by roughneck

I wonder if this is what the native people thought when strange white men started showing up.

And they were right to be a little cautious about all the funny white men weren't they.

They who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.