Delano Regional Medical Center: “Speek Inglish. Its the Offical Language”
You’d think that inside a hospital, providing quality medical care would be a higher priority than being a retarded bigot. Apparently not; at least not at Delano Regional Medical Center in Kern County, CA.
Fifty-two Filipino nurses and other medical workers have filed a lawsuit against Delano Regional Medical Center. The hospital has an “English only” rule. Filipino workers were warned in 2006 not to speak Tagalog or any other Filipino language at work, including break periods. They were told there would be surveillance cameras to monitor them for compliance. Also, sometimes a group of them would be conversing in English, and a supervisor would walk up to them and say “remember now, English only.”
The odd thing is, the hospital’s “English only” rule is directed only at Filipinos. Other employees are free to speak Spanish or Hindi with no harassment. WTF?
If there’s anything worse than a dumb redneck, it’s a dumb redneck who only hates one ethnic group. This furriner sucks, but those other swarthy bastards are OK.
Some people might think the United States has more pressing problems than a few immigrants speaking their native language. For instance, too many high school students have truble reeding and they caint ad to and too. And what’s up with that there “science” thingy anyway?
Out of thirty-four countries, America’s 15-year-olds ranked 14th in reading skills, 17th in science and 25th in math.
According to the OECD report in the linked article:
“Boosting US scores for reading, math and science by 25 points over the next 20 years would result in a gain of 41 trillion dollars for the United States economy over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010.”
And:
“Bringing the United States up to the average performance of Finland, the best-performing education system among OECD countries, could result in gains in the order of 103 trillion dollars.”
Oh well, whatever. First things first.
Labels: America’s 15-year-olds ranking, Delano Regional Medical Center, OECD report
posted by Tom Harper @ 3:32 PM
13 Comments:
This is why English is not the Official Language in this Country. Politicians have been told by the courts and legal scholars that if English is made official by either law or constitutional amendment the government is required to enforce it.
That would mean proficiency test for everybody (and how many would pass that test?), it would also mean any citizen could demand English education which has been estimated in billions in education funds to satisfy. For all that hot air, nobody is willing to take that route.
As an aside Filipinos make up the highest percentage of imported Nurses in this country (like East Indians and the motels this was no accident). Get used to hearing another language on the job.
Erik
Proficiency tests? Hell, all of Dixie would fall flat on their inbred faces.
Imagine being a patient and 2 people are next to your bed peaking another language? They could be saying "Did you see his little penis" or "what fat bitch" or even "he/she will be dead soon".
It's like telling a secret when someone else is in the room. It's rude.
In light of Erik's comment, now I'm in favor of English as the only official language. Much comedy from watching shlubs and yokels of all political and socioeconomic stripes trying to de-mangle the language.
You want to see bigots? Go into a Bodega and speak a language other than Spanish or English.
I've done it as an experiment twice and both times man if looks could kill.
Anon
If you went to that Hospital in question, they could do it in Spanish, Hindi and other various languages..just not in Tagalog
-make it even for all of the foreign languages-
Of course it brings to mind another scenario: What if the Nurses were speaking English and the patient couldn't, would that still be rude?
Erik
Sounding a mite crude and ignorant yourself there JR.
I'd like to be able to say I see a big First Amendment slap down coming Delano Hospital's way, but with the current makeup of the Supremes, it's dicey.
There is a valid case to be made for requiring employees to speak a particular language in the course of doing their work. There is no valid reason for imposing such a rule on their break periods, or even when they are just passing a few words between themselves and not as part of communicating with, in this case, patients.
To the Anonymous with apparent paranoid-personality disorder: Nurses could just as well be saying, "He's very handsome" or "I feel so bad for her, she seems to be getting worse."
The idea of calling on the law to enforce language rules out of suspicion or fear someone might say something offensive is: 1, abusive of individual rights and freedoms; 2, a sure way to undermine respect for the rule of law; and 3, incredibly dumb.
As for rudeness, where would you be if you were to travel abroad, even to Canada or Mexico, and wind up in a hospital where nearly everyone speaks Francais or Espanol? Overcome by acute attacks of others' rudeness?
Give me a break.
Re: Americans' educational deficits.
I've become increasingly convinced over the last 30 years that much of the damage done to our economy, politics and society by the radical right might've been prevented if microeconomics and macroeconomics were separate, required, courses (not part of "social studies") in America's high schools.
Erik: I'm sure the bigots would be willing to spend billions, or more, for enforcing English only laws. It's the same twisted priorities that rightwingers already have -- not a cent for the infrastructure or job training; trillions for wars and prisons.
JR: LOL. Looks like you got a rise out of another commenter below.
Anonymous Pretending Not To Be Lisa: Assuming you read the whole post, you must think it's OK for nurses to be making fun of a patient in Hindi or Spanish; just not Tagalog.
Randal: It would be a hoot, that's for sure.
Anonymous: I don't doubt that. Bigotry comes in all nationalities and ethnic groups.
Erik: Hey, that's a thought. Patients should only be admitted to a hospital if they can speak perfect English. No exceptions :)
Anonymous: The South can't get no respect. If I'm not mistaken, he's from the South, so I assume ex-Southerners can get away with Dixie jokes.
SW: First Amendment? Nah, that's only to protect millionaires' Godgiven rights to bribe Congress and purchase elections.
Good response to Lisa, er, I mean "Anonymous."
I like the idea of teaching both microeconomics and macroeconomics separately. It's probably too late now though. Big words like that would arouse too much suspicion.
Kern cty, might as well be in one of the reddest of states with the amount of teabaggery that happens there. There are days I just want to give up on the human race, this is one of them. When will this stuff end when we have to find "the other" to make ourselves feel better? No need to answer.
Jess: That's true, some of those interior parts of California are as red as it gets. I doubt if human nature will change; losers will always have to shit on the "other" in order to give themselves a boost.
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