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Spotted at Walgreens: American Exceptionalism
I saw this sign at my local Walgreen’s and I have to admit my first reaction was irritation.
Not because the company offers a menu of languages with which to interact with its customers. On the contrary, I think that’s probably smart business. Good for them.
No, it’s the words, “It’s your right.”
Is it? Is it really your “right” to come to a country and insist that your pharmacist speak Hmong? Or Russian or Persian or Armenian?
(I’m ignoring, for the moment, that the list of languages it’s “your right” to use when speaking to your pharmacist includes Arabic.)
I travel a lot. And I’ve been to some really way-out places. And as a result of my compulsion to eat everything in sight, I’ve also spent a fair amount of time gesturing and pointing and making humiliating charades in pharmacies worldwide. No one ever told me, anywhere, anyplace, anyhow, that it was “my right” to speak English to the pharmacist.
Published in General
Maybe in Minnesota.
I have done hockey en français and baseball en Español. After working the All-Star Game, Division Series and League Championship Series one season, I could not find food, shelter or emergency care in any Central or South American country, but if they wanted to talk “béisbol” I was your man.
Hmmn, isn’t there quite a Hmong population in Minnesota? Perhaps you’re going to the wrong coast, Rob. Lake Superior is nice this time of year.
But, but, but, this law is about language, not race!
Ha! This time I beat Arahant to it!
I’m so awesome.
Beat me to it. We’ve been switching back and forth on this thread.
I would have love to have been on that conversation in the late 70’s.
General: We have all these Vietnamese refugees! Where are we gonna put them?
State Dept: Minnesota. That approximates their native climate.
What can I say, I had to go stir the bean soup.
AND I beat you to making a joke about it!
Agreed!!
To put a charitable interpretation on this, maybe Walmart meant “it’s your right at Walmart?” Maybe it’s written into the company’s rules somewhere that customers must receive service in their native language?
*shrug*
I notice that English is not one of the languages that it is “Your Right” to be supplied an interpreter for. Maybe that explains why I cant find a doctor that speaks English clearly and understandably anymore.
It may be Yer “Right” to speak any language, but You have no Right to be heard or understood.
Too cold.
No, the sign is required by California law. The California Board of Pharmacy is a state regulatory agency.
Pharmalinguist sounded too dirty.
If you write it they will come.
You are absolutely correct. When I was typing this I had to take a call so ended the post with a general statement, i.e., ‘for so many reasons.’ In addition to your comment, the ‘salad’ approach makes the selection of college applicants so much easier when colleges admit students by specific group rather than merit to appease the PC crowd. It also leads to each group allowing themselves to slide into victim status – which works to the advantage of those who are in and influencing government these days.
And speaking of celebrating other cultures, in Pittsburgh the Polish, Slovakian, Greek , Italian, etc., festivals were not to be missed. The food, the music, the dancing… what wonderful times.
It would been so much nicer to say something like “In order to better serve you please …” or just leave off the English instructions altogether.
Well if Rob doesn’t want to travel too far there is a large contingent of Hmong here in Fresno. Also it’s not too cold.
Probably need another venue other than a bar. Maybe he could get a story line or two out of the city’s need to change the adoption rules at the local animal shelters.
Get used to that feeling, Rob. That’s defeat. We have refused to face ugly truths as “too ugly” and have refused to fight as “too hostile”. Well now we’re done.
And this is just within the realms of Constitutional rights. I don’t believe that pharmaceutical translation is an unenumerated right.
More importantly, pace Misthiocracy, we have legal rights as well as Constitutional rights. I gather California has granted this legal right to its citizens.
There are plenty of countries where the healthcare system is required to make an effort to speak to you in a language you understand, and the tasks performed by American pharmacists are often part of the healthcare system in those countries. In other words, I don’t believe that this is a case of American exceptionalism, nor that it is mistaken.
I volunteer at the polls in California for every election. In 2014, there are six official ballot languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese). I hear that two more will be added next year (Hindi + XXX). As the Alameda County Registrar of Voters says “it’s their right” to vote in their own language. Hey, then it’s their right to go back to wherever they came from and vote there in that language.
I’ve been told you have the nation’s highest concentration of Armenians.
Don’t worry, those people are natural conservatives.
My Grandma was one of those people. But when she needed to interact with the english speaking world, she brought her own translator. She didn’t expect the other party to provide one.
This assertion has always bugged me. I understand the intent, but Americans tend not to learn another language mostly because of simple geography. Europeans can typically drive about 6 hours from wherever they’re sitting and be where the primary language is different. It would be like if every state in the US had a completely different language. If that was the case you can be sure we would learn at least the ones we’re close to. It may become that way with Spanish eventually for us but to make it out to be simply an American arrogance thing I think is incorrect. We also happen to already speak the International language of business and if we didn’t it would be likely we would teach English along with whatever the native language is in school like other countries do.
Somebody might have already pointed this out (sorry, not going to read the 85+ comments to check), but the Spanish text actually reads:
“Point to your language. Interpreter services will provided at no cost if you ask.”
There is no mention of “rights” (“derechos” in Spanish). I think the Tagalog does the same. So maybe the “rights” language is just there for show.
-E
Is the issue really the American attitude that “everyone should learn your language because you can’t be bothered to learn a second one?” or is that it seems unreasonable to require a drug store that may a total staff at any time of say 10 people to staff someone fluent in 12 foreign languages listed on the piece of paper? Is the legal requirement limited to 12 languages, or is a store in rural California required to have someone fluent in top 100 languages spoken in the world.
Let’s say every native born American was required by law to learn a second language to the point of fluency. How many of the 12 languages listed above likely be present in the typical rural Walgreens? The law would still be burdensome if every single American spoke 2 or more languages.
How does the fact that Spanish version says that negate the “It’s your right” language in English at the top? As others have noted, it is required by law, so the issue is the law, not the text inside each of the boxes.
My question for those in California is, how in practice does this work? Is there an 800 number provided by the State of California to a call center that can act as translator? If yes, is the prompt menu in English, or is each option given in all 12 languages?
As I alluded to above, it is simply not logistically feasible to have someone fluent in all 12 of those languages in the store 24 hours a day, so I find it ALMOST impossible to believe that every drugstore in California employs even one person fluent in each of those 12 languages.
Who said it negates it?
-E