I have had different kinds of experiences with customer service representatives. Some have stood out for being unpleasant to me because of my accent. Sadly, I’ve had so many of them that it will take a lot for any of them to stand out. Some parts of my embarrassments have been silly and unnecessary and I regret it. Sure, emotion is never logical, but no one else understands why I was embarrassed, it was probably a less awkward situation than I thought it was. Being embarrassed about my accent is something I have struggled with these past two years. What an embarrassing moment at a self-check-out with a customer representative? If I had asked to summarize my staying in America, it would be “I have been in uncomfortable and embarrassing situations …show more content…
A day that marked my three months of being in America. Without looking at the dropped temperature of the weather, I went to Ultra Food grocery store on this morning to buy some groceries. Without wasting much of my time in the store, I quickly picked all what I wanted to buy and put them in the shopping cart and pushed my cart to the check-out areas when I was ready to check out, the queue on the check-out registers were really long so I opted for the self-check-out isles which was slightly less congested. As I was scanning some of the items one-by-one, the machine asked if I wanted to bag some of the items, I said no. So I couldn 't continue. An associate would need to come and unlock the system with the administrative password. I looked around, and I called on the first associate standing close to me for help. I said in cool voice like a bagpipe suffering from tonsillitis, “can you please help me?” At first, she ignored me and looked at me as if I was not created by God. I was standing right in front of her but she still would not acknowledge me. So I asked her again if she could help me with the self-check-out machine. I was stunned by her response! She looked at me sharply and said disdainfully: "Look, I have no Idea what you are saying, ok?" I thought about many responses but I bit my tongue, took a deep breath, and …show more content…
When you make assumptions based on your stereotype about a customer, it beclouds your judgment, objectivity and incapacitates service with integrity. I have been experiencing such an embarrassment since I came to America, every time I am communicating with Americans, the first silly question they normally ask me is “are you speaking English? where are you from? Do you like it here? How long have you been in here?” I answered with a sharp voice “Yes.” It is of course ridiculous to be ashamed of one’s accent. I am proud to be an African man! Moreover, it’s simply a fact that I started learning American English at a very grown age and not when I was a little baby. More so, I will never stay in America if I don’t like it here. My travels to America is by choice not by accident; it will only cost me one flight ticket to go back to my country. This curiosity makes me feel like I need to introduce myself before I open my mouth in front of an American: “Hey! My name is Seyi. Please sorry for my accent, I’m an African man.” It shouldn’t be like that. We must all have it in our mind that we will surely meet a foreigner who doesn’t speak or understand our language or dialect one day and always be prepared to communicate with them in a respect manner. It doesn’t matter what language anyone speaks. We should all put in the effort in trying to
While Anzaldúa makes great points about the struggles of a Chicana women in America, her arguments imply that Mexican people are the only people that have to adapt to American culture. While Mexican people should feel free to express their cultures freely, language is a much more complex issue; it is not simply solved by not accommodating to English speakers. English speakers must strive to embrace other cultures and languages, and understand that they do not necessarily have to speak that language to accept
Throughout history society has created many stereotypes and assumptions based on race and nationality to confine us into categories. The reality is, not every individual fits a specific category because we are unique even within the same ethnic group. In “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black person” Allison Joseph illustrates some speech stereotypes that come hand in hand with her racial background and how even people from the same racial background and house hold don’t all sound alike. The author portrays that race and linguistic has such a huge impact on our daily life and how society sees her differently to others when they see she does not fit in the stereotype of sounding “like a black person” and feels frustration to being compared
Immigrants have helped shape American identity by the languages they speak from their home country. Richard Rodriguez essay “Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans” reveals Rodriguez’s attitudes towards race and ethnicity as they relate to making people know what culture really identifies a person rather than their race. For example, in the essay, it states that Richard Rodriguez “ is Chinese, and this is because he lives in a Chinese City and because he wants to be Chinese. But I have lived in a Chinese City for so long that my eye has taken on the palette, has come to prefer lime greens and rose reds and all the inventions of this Chinese Mediterranean. lines 163-171”.
America is a presumptuous country; its citizens don’t feel like learning any other language, so they make everyone else learn English. White Americans are the average human being and act as the standard of living, acting, and nearly all aspects of life. In her essay “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh talks about how being white has never been discussed as a race/culture before because that identity has been pushed on everyone else, and being white subsequently carries its own set of advantages. Gloria Anzaldua is a Chicana, a person of mixed identities. In an excerpt titled “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she discusses how the languages she speaks identify who she is in certain situations and how, throughout her life, she has been pushed to speak and act more “American” like.
...on-Asians do not take the time to put themselves in our shoes. My mother who immigrated to the United States for graduate school faced racial discrimination. Many workers in restaurants, grocery stores, and administrators mocked her accent and believed her to be “inferior” in some way because of that. They did not consider that English is her second language. If they had just imagined if they were in Taiwan, struggling to adjust to the new culture and language and away from all family and friends, they would not have discriminated my mother. As the years go by, American society is becoming more accepting of racial minorities, but there is always improvements to be made. It is up to posterity to change this hateful practice of racial discrimination. Thus, it is our generation’s duty and responsibility to address these issues and strive to bring changes for the better.
Being misunderstood is one of the most common feelings I’ve felt since arriving at J.F.K. Airport. People being insulted or puzzled next to me is a pretty common site and a thing I’ve gotten use to, maybe due to my cynicism or the lack of interest in what other people think about me, a thing that is inconceivable by most Americans that I have gotten to meet. Local manners “state” that if another person did not take a liking to what you said or did then you must take that into consideration and try to avoid saying or doing that again. This is something that is very polite and considerate but steels away our individuality and personality and at times takes away the ability to really know the person next to you in class or at work.
In the essay, “How To Tame A Wild Tongue”, by Gloria Anzaldua and the essay, Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, the ignorance shown by many people is highlighted. Amy Tan’s essay focuses on how some people look down on others who do not speak English without an accent. Anzaldua’s essay focuses on how people do not have a broad view of language and often look down upon others who do not speak the language that they speak. Both of the essays address language, but the broader topic that they acknowledge is more important. The essays both acknowledge how humans feel uncomfortable around people that are different from them, and often demean others. People demean others due to people wanting to look more powerful by giving their views correctness while discrediting
In my many travels outside America, I stood out like a sore thumb once I began speaking English. The foreigners I conversed with gave me double take stare mixed with amusement. When I asked what it was they find amusing, most of them says, “You’re American.” With pride and no hesitation, I nod my head yes. It is an instinctive reaction of patriotism that I consider myself an American when the question comes up. It is only when I am outside the country I realized the weight as an American on foreign land. People from around the globe are
The first and second year after moving from China to the United States, I was afraid to talk to strangers because my English was not very well. I had to depend on my husband for dealing with my personal business, such as making a doctor’s appointment, calling to the bank, or questioning to DMV officers. Douglass says, “being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (62). For myself, being a dependent and helpless adult is a shame. Moreover, I lacked of extra money to go to school to improve my English. Thus, I stayed home all the time to avoid embarrassment of talking to strangers. After a while, I realized that improving English speaking skills are the essential to gain my self-confidence. So, I spent time to read various articles on the internet and watched English dialogues’ videos on YouTube. As a non-English speaking immigrant living in the U.S., I inevitably encountered a series of difficulties to integrate myself into a new
language in public places to show respect for America (528). Immigrants are taught their native
At Chipotle, a Mexican fast food restaurant, the customer approached the first station where he ordered a burrito. The first employee asked “What can I get started for you?” The customer then replied with “Andrew will get a chicken burrito.” The employee proceeded then to warm a tortilla and ask the customer what kind of rice and beans he would like. The customer responded in similar fashion, saying, “Andrew will take some brown rice and no beans.” It was then that the customer began to look at the customer with a confused look. She did not say anything, and she continued to keep creating the burrito. When the customer went to the next part of the burrito-creating process (with a new employee), he did not begin his responses with “Andrew will have” but rather stating what he wanted on the burrito (e.g. “pico, sour cream and cheese, please.”). The next employee was the cashier, responsible for ringing up the customer for his food. The cashier asked the customer if the burrito was going to be it for him. The customer responded with “That’s going to be it for Andrew today.” The cashier then acknowledged the customer and then proceeded to check the customer out. Once the checkout was completed, the customer said “Thank you,” and left the restaurant.
While reading this article one of the most shocking sections were when the students were talking to Monzó and sharing their outlook on their place and their language’s place in society. These students even at this early age are feeling how devalued their first language has been. They feel like they have to speak the right* English, only use English in public places, never their first language, and that they must assimilate to the American culture as much as possible. This reminded me of a chapter in Lippi-Green (2012)’s text. Within this chapter Lippi-Green (2012) discusses how in the United States Spanish speakers are not only expected to learn English but they are expected to learn and utilize the right* English determined by the majority and assimilate entirely to American culture. Throughout Monzó and Rueda (2009)’s text the children in conversations expressed their observation of the social order in relation to language and race. This was surprising to me since they are only in 5th grade. During a conversation with one of the children Monzó and Rueda (2009) recorded an alarming statement, “He said that his mother could not be considered American because she did not...
“You have such an interesting accent; where are you from?” That is the question I have heard over and over again since I moved from Puerto Rico to Houston, Texas. While aspiring to a more challenging educational environment from the one exposed to, I made the decision of moving with my aunt and uncle to the United States. Consequently, I sacrificed the time spent with my family and discerned the obstacles that were prone to surface for an individual whose native language is not English.
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” aired a segment on the controversy behind the Coca-Cola half time commercial during the Super Bowl. The commercial featured “America the Beautiful” sung in different languages by people from different nationalities. Americans on their social media websites, such as Twitter, went into an uproar. Many Americans tweeted things similar to, “What an f***ing terrible commercial. The majority of it was not even in English and was sung by a bunch of foreigners. Just more multicultural, politically correct, liberal s**t” (CBS Atlanta). On the “Daily Show with Jon Stewart”, Stewart highlights the controversy of this commercial on Twitter. Stewart jokes about how ironic the backlash this comm...
Throughout my life I have had so many embarrassing moments. The most embarrassing moment that will always come to mind is being chased by the game warden. I have had some close encounters with the game warden, but never this close before. The last time I was forced to call my parents to explain the whole entire night. Being in this situation most teen-agers would consider it to be a bad night, but for me it was more of a long embarrassing night. When the game warden was chasing me I felt scared, nervous as well as embarrassed knowing this night might not turn out to my advantage.