Philadelphia and Gino's Cheese Steaks

[Miriam C.]

Well Ira, dear, I can see someone tinkled in your Cheerios today. How exactly did you get American arrogance out of " how wonderful it is to have someone take an extra few minutes to help you order."

I hope they sue the city too. I hope they win...

[BrwBier]

I/d be very interested to hear your views on Kohler Co. How did you know that's where I was from. I did my time there, 18 years growing up and 12 years in the factory. My great grandpa built a lot of the houses there. By the way the Kohler's are from Austria not Germany.

[asianflava]

Texas Teardrop I've had the pleasure of conversing with many Texans and I can assure you, that is not english that you speak
So I guess tonyj is right, it must be "Texan".

You can say that again, they have so many creative pronunciations for things, I'll give you a few local examples.

Dessau= Dess-saw
Meuller (airport) =Miller
Manchaca= Man-shack
Montague=Mon-tag

The list goes on and on. You'll say it correctly and they'll reply, "You ain't from around here are ya?

[tonyj]

Texas Teardrop I've had the pleasure of conversing with many Texans and I can assure you, that is not english that you speak
So I guess tonyj is right, it must be "Texan".

You can say that again, they have so many creative pronunciations for things, I'll give you a few local examples.

Dessau= Dess-saw
Meuller (airport) =Miller
Manchaca= Man-shack
Montague=Mon-tag

The list goes on and on. You'll say it correctly and they'll reply, "You ain't from around here are ya?

What do you expect? None of those are English names anyway. How the hell could a Texson be expected to get those multi-syllabic words out of their mouth in under a week anyway? We do pretty good just saying our famous 4 word greeting "How-dee y'all. Howrudoin??"

[tonyj]

Well Ira, dear, I can see someone tinkled in your Cheerios today.

That visual has me cracking up!

I agree with you Ira, but can they sue the city for what it is actually guilty of--being stupid?

[apratt]

My take on this is you are in America learn english. We do have a lot of stores that has signs up in Spanish, If they are going to do that then why not in Japanese or Chinese or French and so on, who to say who gets top preference. So keep the language here english.

[Ira]

I/d be very interested to hear your views on Kohler Co. How did you know that's where I was from. I did my time there, 18 years growing up and 12 years in the factory. My great grandpa built a lot of the houses there. By the way the Kohler's are from Austria not Germany.

I just used the word Nazis for effect. I didn't know WHERE they came from. (And your avatar says Sheboygan.)

I only know what kind of a company they were when it came to selecting ad agencies. They spend A LOT of money on advertising, and are a much sought-after account by national agencies.

The thing is, they switch agencies like every other year--even though they specifically dictate what they want the agency to do. It's like telling someone, "Do this," and then that didn't work, and then they say, "You're fired because that didn't work."

In addition, every time they invited agencies to pitch their account, they always said, "We want new ideas. A new creative direction." The agencies would do incredible stuff, one agency was hired, but they were STILL forced to do "The Bold Look of Kohler." Nothing else, nothing more.

So I worked for Della Femina Travisano & Partners in New York, and we pitched them TWICE on the same go-round. And were invited back a third time--it was between us and another agency.

Well, the owner of my agency, Jerry Della Femina, and the greatest guy in advertising. A real mensch and a wonderful human being. So right before the final presentation, he does a photo shoot of himself sitting in a Kohler whirlpool, and we run a full-page ad in the business section of the Sheboygan Press:

"The Bold Look of Kohler...The Bald Look of Della Femina."
"They Belong Together."

(Jerry's bald.)

They immediately called us to say, "Don't bother coming for the final pitch. You don't get our account."

Why, you might ask? Because we were too uppity? Too creative? Too DARING for them?

No:

The president's wife somehow inferred some kind of a GAY reference in that ad, which is as about as far a stretch as anyone can possib;y make.

This was around 1987, 1988, but everything I've seen or read about Kohler since then pretty much supports what I thought about them back then.

[Dennis T]

Not one person here has said it. "Geno's has not turned anyone away because they didn't order in english."
It's only a sign people. What next, gonna get on them for trans fat? Philly just signed a law banning it in Philly. To late, Geno's has not used any product that has trans fat in it for years.

Dennis T

[Ira]

Not one person here has said it. "Geno's has not turned anyone away because they didn't order in english."
It's only a sign people. What next, gonna get on them for trans fat? Philly just signed a law banning it in Philly. To late, Geno's has not used any product that has trans fat in it for years.

Dennis T

The guy was on Fox News this morning, and explained it all real well. Just another example of government running amok.

And yeah--I had to look in the dictionary to see how to spell that.

[JunkMan]

Ira, there are people in the world who do not speak English. Travel outside the English speaking world and you will understand how wonderful it is to have someone take an extra few minutes to help you order.

It should not be against the law to have English only but it is good manners to allow visitors to feel comfortable in our country. Doesn't mean you have to speak their language just accept that it is ok for them to not speak English before they visit.

Not everyone who goes to a foreign country without speaking the language is rude.

Miriam,

While I agree with you about accomadating visitors to our country (I have traveled all over Asia and India, and definatly appreciate English speakers in those countries), I think the problem is the people that live here that refuse to learn our language.

When my ancestors moved here over a hundred years ago, they accepted the fact that English was spoken in the US, and proudly learned the language. They uunderstood that this was not their old country, and if they wanted to fit in, they needed to learn the language (in fact, they had to prove their proficency in the language before they could become citizens). They didn't expect businesses to accomodate them (although there were many ethnic markets that did, and they were popular with the immigrants).

The problem is not the visitors to our country, they are always welcome. The problem is the immigrants and illegal aliens that expect us to acomodate them, and make no effort to learn our language.

As a business owner, I have no problem accomodating tourists, they understand that they are visiting our country, and together we can usually figure out a way to communicate our needs to each other. I DO have a problem with a government that tells me that I have to accomodate a specific group of people that are here by their own free will, and quite possibly, illegaly. As others have said, why just Spanish? I have more German and Norwegian tourists visit my area than I do Hispanics, how about accomodating them? What about the Japaneese and Chineese that frequently visit this area?

[wolfix]

Hell, when I was single and went to Rio, it took me just five minutes to learn to say "Where are the hookers" in Portuguese.

I want to go to a TD gathering in Rio with Ira.....

[Dennis T]

"The guy was on Fox News this morning, and explained it all real well. Just another example of government running amok."

When you say "the guy on Fox" explained it. Was he the guy in New York or the guy in Philly?

Dennis T

[Ira]

"The guy was on Fox News this morning, and explained it all real well. Just another example of government running amok."

When you say "the guy on Fox" explained it. Was he the guy in New York or the guy in Philly?

Dennis T

Sorry--Gino, the owner.

[Nytewyng]

Ok my rant.........you want to live here and work here .....than learn ENGLISH! The reason I dont speak Italian is because when my forefathers migrated here they were shunned if they didnt learn ENGLISH and speak it publicly. If I were President.........the first new rule would be....Welcome to America, you can stay for 3 years on us , then become a citizen and assimilate. If not get the F**K out of here!........and if you want to wear something on your head ..........wear a baseball cap like the rest of us...........phew.....now I feel better........

[Miriam C.]

Ok my rant.........you want to live here and work here .....than learn ENGLISH! The reason I dont speak Italian is because when my forefathers migrated here they were shunned if they didnt learn ENGLISH and speak it publicly. If I were President.........the first new rule would be....Welcome to America, you can stay for 3 years on us , then become a citizen and assimilate. If not get the F**K out of here!........and if you want to wear something on your head ..........wear a baseball cap like the rest of us...........phew.....now I feel better........

Son, that ain't no baseball hat your wearin and I ain't wearin one either.

I don't mean people who plan on staying just visitors should be given courtesy. Course some of us are missin a LAD and have trouble with one language.