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Thread: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

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    You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    an IMMIGRANT postmaster has banned customers who cannot speak english from his post office to force them to learn english.


    Is this right?

    Also, what would have happened if a white english person had made this stand... would it be more right or more wrong?

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    Registered User Danny's Avatar
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    would it be more right or more wrong?
    It'd be neither. Either way, white, black, whatever would deserve the same disciplinary action. What if it was just someone on holiday here?
    This is just another ridiculously stupid and isolated case where someone has done something dumb and another dumb person has put it in the paper as if it actually means anything to the country as a whole for the sole purpose of enraging people and provoking them to buy more papers with more of the same banal crap.

    Its just a random idiot who works at the Post Office.

    P.S - Immigrants can be white
    Last edited by Danny; 19th-March-2009 at 03:59 PM.

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    I read that story too. It did not seem that he had banned them from his shop (I read it in the Times so the reporting may not be accurate) he just said that if he could not understand your language and you couldn't speak one of his then he would be unable to serve you.

    I have the same problem with people from other countries. If they ask me a question in a languange I don't understand then I am unable to answer them.

    I can understand that the police would need to call on the services of a battery of interpreters if they arrest someone that doesn't understand english but then the police and the suspect can wait around for a few hours while and interpreter can attend. I can't imagine that the queue in a post office would be able to wait around for a few hours until an interpreter turns up.

    I suppose we could have a team of 15 or so interpreters in every post office all the time or even at a call centre that the postmaster could call. It might help reduce the unemployment level a bit as long as the taxpayer doesn't mind paying for them all.

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    Registered User Trousers's Avatar
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    an IMMIGRANT postmaster has banned customers who cannot speak english from his post office to force them to learn english.


    Is this right?

    Also, what would have happened if a white english person had made this stand... would it be more right or more wrong?
    Why capitalise the word immigrant? Is that right?

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Also, what would have happened if a white english person had made this stand... would it be more right or more wrong?
    You do get these weird isolated cases which seem to apply one set of rules for one and another for another. One of my local council gyms is located in an area which is heavily populated by a particular ethnic minority.

    One of their fantastically stupid ideas to get attendance up (Which I am so happy got knocked back) was to have a night a week where only people from this ethnic group could gain access to the gym. Part of me thought "can you imagine the reaction if you had "white night" as well?

    OK it's slightly off topic but some of this hyper sensitivity really irritates me at times

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    Basically lazy robd's Avatar
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Princess Fi View Post
    OK it's slightly off topic but some of this hyper sensitivity really irritates me at times
    If it irritates you maybe you are hyper sensitive to it?

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Princess Fi View Post
    OK it's slightly off topic but some of this hyper sensitivity really irritates me at times
    Yes I know what you mean, for me its a bit like saying you have to now have to call the black board a chalk board, or black coffee...coffee without milk instead..that kind of patronising does nothing for race awareness.
    On the bigoted, little stamp issuing, jobs worth peak capped little creep, there's always one isn't there
    Last edited by rubyred; 19th-March-2009 at 04:59 PM.
    if you love the life you live then you'll get a lot more done

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    Senior Member Minnie M's Avatar
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    I had a phone call from a young gentleman from Vodophone this afternoon - not sure were he came from, he was English but his accent was sooooo strong and he spoke soooooooo fast, I couldn't understand a word he said.

    I had to keep asking him to slow down, and even then he was hard to understand


    --ooOoo--
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble View Post
    an IMMIGRANT postmaster has banned customers who cannot speak english from his post office to force them to learn english.


    Is this right?

    Also, what would have happened if a white english person had made this stand... would it be more right or more wrong?
    Why would it be any more acceptable for an immigrant than a British born person to be intolerant? If you are an immigrant to this country why should you be more tolerant of all immigrants, obviously people who come to this country come from a varying backgrounds and cultures and are individuals themselves and they hold their own views.

    It can be very frustrating dealing with people who do not speak English but that does not mean it is ok to exclude them from shops and services. It must be very frustrating to them too not being able to communicate.

    When we go abroad we don’t all speak the language of the host country but we don’t expect not to be fed or served. I think the statistics of ex pats living abroad in non English speaking countries are 70% don’t speak the language of the country in which they reside

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxine View Post
    I think the statistics of ex pats living abroad in non English speaking countries are 70% don’t speak the language of the country in which they reside
    That is absolutely shocking. If you go to live in another country, it's sheer bad manners not to learn their language at least to a basic level of competence.

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Minnie M View Post
    I had a phone call from a young gentleman from Vodophone this afternoon - not sure were he came from, he was English but his accent was sooooo strong and he spoke soooooooo fast, I couldn't understand a word he said.

    I had to keep asking him to slow down, and even then he was hard to understand
    He was probably from scotland, eh kps?

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by gamebird View Post
    He was probably from scotland, eh kps?
    OR-AN-GE

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Baruch View Post
    That is absolutely shocking. If you go to live in another country, it's sheer bad manners not to learn their language at least to a basic level of competence.
    I would agree - but some people don't want to try. I remember meeting an English born tour guide in Greece. He told us how he and his wife had been out there for 7 years. Later we were quite surprised when his attempt to communicate with the Greek bus driver involved SHOUTING VERY LOUDLY IN ENGLISH. Funny, but sad at the same time

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    Senior Member Minnie M's Avatar
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by gamebird View Post
    He was probably from scotland, eh kps?
    I did say English ............

    Have to admit, when there is a Scottish presenter, or a call handler, they are usually clearer to understand than any English accent. However, I do have a problem understanding the regular Glasgow accent


    --ooOoo--
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    Leroy (Satchel) Paige (1906-1982)

    Mickey Mouse's girlfriend, Minnie, made her film debut, along with Mickey, in "Steamboat Willie" on November 18, 1928.
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Princess Fi View Post
    OK it's slightly off topic but some of this hyper sensitivity really irritates me at times
    Pretty sure you can take tablets or get a cream for that...

    I've traveled a fair bit, and if im not in an english speaking country, then I will do what I can to be able to speak a little bit of the language. English as a language though is spoken very widely, and we are lucky that we can get away with being as lazy as we are when it comes to language. The French scorn the English all the time for not bothering to speak the language when they are in France.

    All this story highlights is that the PC brigade are still around, and that those with no or little understanding of racial issues can get a chance to loudly shout about something they dont understand.

    And as for Scottish accents, i'm with kps, some of them are just totally unintelligible to me, but then so is a strong Bristolian accent...

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxine View Post
    It can be very frustrating dealing with people who do not speak English but that does not mean it is ok to exclude them from shops and services. It must be very frustrating to them too not being able to communicate.
    This issue isn't just about intolerance. There are also practical considerations.

    I once had to take my daughter to casualty when she became very ill very suddenly and the doctor didn't speak English well. I just could not make him understand what the problem was, which was very upsetting and potentially dangerous.

    I think being unable to speak the language properly should exclude people from certain situations (although buying stamps maybe isn't one of those situations!)

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    Registered User gamebird's Avatar
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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Minnie M View Post
    I did say English ............

    Have to admit, when there is a Scottish presenter, or a call handler, they are usually clearer to understand than any English accent. However, I do have a problem understanding the regular Glasgow accent
    kps had 3 of us to contend with - all chatting ten to the dozen. Hard going apparently

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by gamebird View Post
    kps had 3 of us to contend with - all chatting ten to the dozen. Hard going apparently
    Nah he did alright. He just kept giving ya all the finger. !!

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Quote Originally Posted by Maxine View Post
    Why would it be any more acceptable for an immigrant than a British born person to be intolerant? If you are an immigrant to this country why should you be more tolerant of all immigrants, obviously people who come to this country come from a varying backgrounds and cultures and are individuals themselves and they hold their own views.

    It can be very frustrating dealing with people who do not speak English but that does not mean it is ok to exclude them from shops and services. It must be very frustrating to them too not being able to communicate.

    When we go abroad we don’t all speak the language of the host country but we don’t expect not to be fed or served. I think the statistics of ex pats living abroad in non English speaking countries are 70% don’t speak the language of the country in which they reside
    Without condoning this, I think that I can understand it a little. I also appreciate the irony of the guy being an immigrant.

    There are some sections of some immigrant communities that point blank refuse to learn English. They stay within their communities, and don’t integrate at all with the wider society. I would assume that this particular guy doesn’t approve of this and therefore is trying, in his own small way, to encourage people to integrate. Although I never met her, the mother of a Polish friend of mine refused to speak English, despite living in this country for 25 years. She made herself completely dependent on her family, and therefore also tied them to her, in order to be able to survive.

    I’ve also known English people take the same attitude. Friend of a friend who lived in Amsterdam and refused to learn Dutch is one example – didn’t speak a word, despite living there for 7 years at the time I first met her. Again, she made herself very dependent on the English ex-pats who were her friends but had learnt Dutch – and very nearly unemployable, which was kind of awkward when her partner left her and she lost her job and struggled to find another one.

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    Re: You speaky no english you no getty stampy

    Here's another one for you to get all of a kerfuffle about Sis...

    Polish supermarket wont serve me because I'm English

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