No Hablo Espanol

Sometimes I think my little hometown of Austin, MN is quite diverse for its size. The Hormel Meatpacking Plant attracts a diverse immigrant labor force from Mexico, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Compared to the racial diversity when I grew up (there was none), Austin is quite diverse now.

However, I was shocked in Miami. I was in the minority, and a very small minority at that. Not that I was one of a few caucasians in the mall and the restuarants. More because I was the only person speaking English everywhere we went.

We went to the Miami International Mall. For lunch we went to a restuarant called the Knife. When we got there the host spoke entirely Spanish. Luckily I know enough to say "ci" when she asked if our party was just "dos." I also figured out that she was asking if we wanted to sit by the windows, but only by the pointing and glancing to the windows she was doing while talking to me.

When I went to the grill (buffet style) the chefs only spoke Spanish to me. One finally broke down and spoke English to me when I asked about a cut of meat, but he seemed very put out to have to do so.

Eventually, I found a sign for the restuarant that said it was an Argentinian-style grill. So, I thought, everyone is speaking Spanish because it is a theme restuarant. However, reflecting upon it now, I do not think that was the case.

This is primarily because after lunch, we went to a nearby outlet mall. When I bought some shorts at Nautica, the clerk spoke only Spanish to me. Luckily the cash register had an electronic read showing the price, or I would not have had a clue what I was paying.

At Sketchers, the sales guy did his best to speak his very broken English to me, but the clerk who checked me out was all in Spanish. And I wasn't exactly making an attempt to pretend I understood. I stared back blankly and responded in English every time. To no avail however. She and everyone else would just keep talking to me in Spanish. Again, luckily the numbers on the credit card slip are universal.

The funy thing is that, two years ago I was in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I felt like I was in California. Everyone spoke fluent English and I had to persuade people to talk to me in Spanish. In Miami, I felt like I was in a foreign country. At least the street signs are in English.

In the end, I thought it was pretty fun that everyone spoke to us in Spanish. It was a bit weird, but made the time in Miami a bit more exotic. If I lived down here I would definitely put aside the time to learn Spanish as there would be so many opportunities to practice. However, I do draw the line though with people like the chef who was extremely annoyed that he had to speak to me in English. He and a couple of others really did seem to think it was rude of me not to speak Spanish. I don't care what the demographics are, Miami is still in the USA. English is still the language of our culture and commerce. I think it is great that ethnic groups want to keep their language and cultures strong, but tolerance has to go both ways. I think it is great that Spanish is so widely spoken in Miami. Just don't get cranky if I want to speak a little Engles.