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Language Barrier
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Language Barrier Last Sunday, I was out in a public place when I saw a cellphone/cell/mobile/wireless handset just lying on the ground where someone had likely dropped it. I then quickly picked it up and noticed that it was considerably damaged. This handset was of the flip-open or clamshell design. Despite its hinge mechanism being a bit broken, I was still able to open it, but then I noticed that the display screen would not illuminate whatsoever. Yet I could still tell that this handset was powered on, because the keypad was still giving off a slight greenish glow. I could also hear the tones from pressing the keys. Then I noticed that this handset had a speaker-phone button also. After this initial examination, my guess was that whomever owned this damaged handset was still using it to make calls with just the speaker-phone feature, since it was on the half of the handset which still seemed to function well enough. I tested my theory by making a call to a random toll-free telephone number that came to mind, and sure enough, this broken device worked by means of the speaker-phone feature. I still had no way of knowing how I could return this handset to its rightful owner, however. I put this broken handset away after getting home, and then yesterday, I decided to make a call with it to another phone with a caller ID display, so that I could see what number and name would show up. I wrote down this name and number and then used a web site with listed phone directories to see if there were any likely matches in the vicinity of where I found this handset to the name I had culled from the caller ID. Unfortunately, there were just enough same last names with the same first initial to make this seem to me as being a bit too time-consuming. Since this handset had the logo of the signal provider emblazoned upon it, as most of them all do, I went to the web site of the provider and found a toll-fee telephone number for customer service. When I was able to speak with a customer service representative girl, I told her the name and telephone number I had previously discerned, and the whole situation about how I wanted to return this broken handset to its rightful owner. After being on hold for what seemed to be a lengthy period, this girl came back on the line to tell me that she had located another telephone phone number for the handset's true owner, and that she was able to speak with someone briefly about their lost handset. The only problem however was that this person spoke only Portuguese and that nobody was available to act as an interpreter. Despite the girl's ability to speak Spanish, she felt that there was still enough of a language barrier for her to adequately convey the entirety of the situation to this Portuguese-speaking person, so as to help me return this handset to him or her. She was also unable to release any of this person's details to me due to the confidentiality policies of the signal provider. The only thing she could suggest to me was that I should return this handset to an official retail showroom of the signal carrier and let them deal with the rest. Fortunately, there was one not that far from me, so that is just what I did. Nobody at this location spoke Portuguese, but it turned out that the staff there knew of at least one person working at another location who did. At this point, I felt satisfied that I had finally completed my mission to do what I felt all along was the right thing to do. It certainly took me long enough though, longer than what I would guess other people would even bother. If there is anything such as what some refer to as "karma", then it had better remember me for all that I did on this day just to return somebody's lost property, damn it! It seems quite apparent to me that the person who owned this lost and broken handset was not a tourist, foreign diplomat, or performer, but rather just an otherwise ordinary resident of these United States of America, yet he or she could not really speak English, or even any Spanish for that matter. This is despite the fact that this person apparently got a residence, some sort of contract-based wireless telephone service, and possibly also a job - hopefully one that is not criminal in nature, that is. This got me to thinking...who would want to live a life in a country if he or she could not speak the language of the vast majority of its citizens, such as the "official" language, or the de facto official language as the case might be, or at least the language of the country's largest minority? (I'm referring to Spanish, which is the case here in these United States.) Someone I discussed this issue with yesterday suggested to me that whomever owned this broken handset that I found is quite likely the type of immigrant person who lives and works within a rather insular and tight-knit Portuguese-speaking community, and that he or she relies upon on a family member or spouse to provide English translation when needed. That seems a bit depressing though, doesn't it? I really doubt that a person such as this would be able to get all that much out of life and all the opportunities being offered in these United States with such a language barrier, citizenship and immigration issues aside. Furthermore, consider the extra effort that I had to expend doing the right thing just because some immigrant who lost their broken wireless telephone handset cannot speak English. If I could, I would want to say the following to this person: 1. "It's nice that you chose to come live here in the United States (I think) and everything, for the sake of diversity and all that, etc., but don't you think your life would be easier if you learned how to speak English? For me and that customer service girl in this situation, it sure would have been." 2. "If you really knew how to speak English, perhaps you would be able to have better chances of getting better and more lucrative jobs. That way, you would not have to go around using a damaged wireless handset, being that you could more likely afford to replace it with a new one, and then in case someone like me finds it after you drop it, I might be able to use it to find some other telephone number of yours stored on it, so that I could then phone you and then we could converse in English so as to make arrangements for me to return your property to you somehow." Well, there, I said it - I have said what I think many people all around the world have either said or wanted to say to the immigrants of their own respective nations. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," is how the old adage goes, but these days, perhaps it ought to be modified a bit. "When in Rome, speak as the Romans do." |
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5/2/2008 23h45 |
First of all, Vengeur, I want to commend you on your good deed. Not many people today would have gone to the trouble you did to return someone's broken, and possibly, discarded headset. So good for you. Everything must be right in your world because of that act of kindness. Secondly, I agree with you. As a Texan, I see a lot of people who don't speak any English, or very little. They rely on their children, who are 4th graders, to translate for them during, what should be, private teacher/parent conversations. They rely on someone else to interpret for them when they're in the hospital or when YOU are ordering your Value Meal from McDonalds. This is something I've always had a problem with. Why should I have to read a sign on the side of the road that is in Spanish? I can't understand that. I don't know Spanish. Why can't I order my Big Mac and fries without a translator on the other end? ha... I respect people who immigrate to this country, who learn the language, learn a trade, work hard to become citizens. I completely disrespect those who don't, though. Who expect everyone else to adapt to their needs instead of adapting themselves. Some people don't even try. There are programs, here at least, for parents of Hispanic children, where they can come to a night class provided by the schools and learn English. So many are so lazy though and are perfectly happy not taking advantage of these wonderful opportunities. I'm sorry if what I said didn't flow well or sounded a bit rude. I didn't want to come off that way, but I am tired and it's getting late. I just wanted to comment on what you wrote here.
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10/3/2008 12h24 |
Vengeur, I must say that my response would be no different from yours or BBWkcup. You went above and beyond what any "normal" person would have done to return a broken cell-phone to it's rightful owner...without taking advantage of its usability. Which is quite a rare find these days. I work for a very large construction firm who, although we hire workers through the unions only, many cannot speak nor understand English and need to have plans, schedules, etc. translated to them. I do not speak or understand Spanish and/or Portuguese, so the language barrier plays a huge part in comprehending necessary details needed for the completion of the project. Many times I see them smiling and nodding heads with this blank stare upon their face...and they have no idea what was just said or asked of them and they turn to look at the other puzzled. LoL. But, have their paycheck change by a few cents and see how quickly they find someone to translate for them.  English is no longer the official language, nor are Americans (born and breed) the majority. As it is, almost every state has it's own "Chinatown" or "little Mexico" where a huge concentration of people collect to be among their own. We, those born and breed Americans, seem to have become the minority among the masses and non-English speaking immigrants have overtaken the non-skilled job market by force; hard labor at a cheap price, who can argue with that. Being that I grew up a secluded "country girl" from a very small town and not originally from Jersey, this state has opened my eyes to the vast majority of races, religions, nationalities, and numerous languages spoken...I had always thought that Spanish was simply Spanish, not different due to various sectors or countries of origin. I now know there is a difference, no matter how slight it may be. In America, from coast to coast, English is primarily the spoken language...or at least it use to be. You venture to the extreme North-East and you hear French, wander down South and it's Spanish-Mexican; Pockets of rural America still seem to be in the 1800's with a horse-drawn wagon, young wives (and many of them), and farms worked by animal strength, not machines. Just when we think we've meshed and become one nation, under god...our national icons come under fire, leaving us to wonder who to trust in if not god! It matters not what god we place our beliefs in, as there are many, just as long as it is one we hold our faith into. I know I've wandered off to different paths, but it all originally brings us back to "...One Nation Under God..." If we cannot become the melting pot our forefathers thought we could be, we will then be the "Segregated States..." instead of "United States of America." There, I've added my rant among the few...
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