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Thread: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    I'm doing nursing school clinicals in a public hospital. This is Texas, so I'm surrounded by Spanish. I have no problem with learning it, as multilingualism is a great gift. I do believe that people who come here should learn English, but that's not what I am bitching about.

    One of my biggest pet peeves are people who make no fucking effort to communicate effectively. I don't begrudge them for not knowing English, but some people will make no effort to take byways. They'll keep talking in their rapid language, and some will get mad that you don't understand them.

    It's already been established that I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU. Continuing to jabber rapidly or more loudly will not make me understand you. Jesus, they say we Americans are ethnocentric (A French friend said that American tourists have a bad reputation in his country because they expect everyone to speak English, but that the French will warm up to them a lot more if they at least try). If I can't understand, start by trying to SIMPLIFY things. You know, speak more slowly, use what little English you do know, say the key word that you're trying to communicate, pantomime, draw a picture. You know how when talking on the phone with a young child, s/he will nod or shake her head, not knowing that we can't see them? Some people never grow out of that.

    When I go traveling, I carry a Berlitz manual and a bilingual dictionary on me at all times. I am not above pantomiming, and although I can only draw stick figures, I can still get the point across. I don't keep jabbering on in English, expecting it to magically make sense to the hosts that I take for granted. I FIND OTHER WAYS.

    I understand that they're in pain, they can't concentrate and will revert back to their mother tongue, they might not have a bilingual friend immediately available, and that this is a tough situation. However, some people can't realize that they're not being understood. For christ's sake, get over yourself. Make a fucking effort to communicate, don't get pissed at me because I don't have a Babelfish in my ear.

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    God/dess Embyr's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    i agree. i must say, this post was extremely insightful... had nothing to do with pc/non-pc whatsoever.... which is the case, and you presented your perspective very well.

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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Think about all of the places people can get work if their english is so poor that they couldn't get a job taking orders at McDonalds:

    A telmarketer

    Phone support for any major credit card or telephone company

    At a major university as a professor.

    At a Hospital?!?! WTF!

    This list can probably get really long.

    There are such a thing as LEQ's (legitimate employment qualifications).

    I'm too tall to be an astronaut, too big to be a flight attendant, but I was thinking about getting a job as the US Ambassador to Germany. No I don't speak German, but if they won't hire me I'll file a discrimination suit.

  4. #4
    TheSexKitten
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Quote Originally Posted by plm View Post
    I'm too tall to be an astronaut, too big to be a flight attendant, but I was thinking about getting a job as the US Ambassador to Germany. No I don't speak German, but if they won't hire me I'll file a discrimination suit.
    Doesn't make sense.

    Reallyreally good point Krazyjane, people who make NO effort are frustrating, to say the least.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    I want a Babelfish.

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    TheSexKitten
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    I wish I could instantly know every language there is. Oh man that would be sweet........

    but so would a ferrari, a perfect body, a mansion, world peace, and so forth!

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    Banned rozz's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Quote Originally Posted by Krazyjane View Post
    I want a Babelfish.
    But having a Babelfish insinuates God exists. But God is not supposed to prove his existence, so he would vanish in a poof. Do you really want to make God not exist?

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    God/dess jaizaine's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    I understand how frustrating it can be but at the same time if you don't speak english of course you are going to continue to try to speak in your own native tongue.

    I went to an Italian wedding once with an ex boyfriend and I suppose because I have dark hair and am tanned the non-english speaking relatives who came to Australia for the wedding assumed I was Italian and continued to speak to me in Italian even though I kept saying "I don't speak Italian, sorry" - I knew they couldn't understand what I was saying but ah, I couldn't say it in Italian.

    It used to frustrate me when I worked in retail too but you are talking about sick people in hospital, that concerns me a bit you are supposed to be in a caring, helping profession. I'm not dismissing what you are saying. I think people should make an effort to learn the language or at least carry an english phrase book but these people are possibly too sick or in too much pain to make these efforts.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Quote Originally Posted by jaizaine View Post
    I understand how frustrating it can be but at the same time if you don't speak english of course you are going to continue to try to speak in your own native tongue.

    I went to an Italian wedding once with an ex boyfriend and I suppose because I have dark hair and am tanned the non-english speaking relatives who came to Australia for the wedding assumed I was Italian and continued to speak to me in Italian even though I kept saying "I don't speak Italian, sorry" - I knew they couldn't understand what I was saying but ah, I couldn't say it in Italian.

    It used to frustrate me when I worked in retail too but you are talking about sick people in hospital, that concerns me a bit you are supposed to be in a caring, helping profession. I'm not dismissing what you are saying. I think people should make an effort to learn the language or at least carry an english phrase book but these people are possibly too sick or in too much pain to make these efforts.
    You misunderstand me. I know that these people are sick and refraining to the native tongue. However, you haven't read my post. There are OTHER WAYS to communicate, and some will simply get mad that I can't understand them, and think that talking faster is going to do something. It's fucking ethnocentric for them to just jabber on. There are other ways to communicate.

    Uh, nurses are human too. I've been hit, spit on, etc, and I've never taken any of that shit. The "angels of mercy" reputation that nurses have is harmful and has people walking all over us. I've heard people refer to college-educated nurses as maids. You can judge how unmerciful I am after you try working in my workplace. Nurses have to be tough. While it is a caring profession, we put up with tons of shit from doctors, other nurses, patients, and people who say, "I'm going to sue you!" instead of please. I have a heart, but I also have a spine.

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    Banned Blade's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Quote Originally Posted by jaizaine View Post
    I understand how frustrating it can be but at the same time if you don't speak english of course you are going to continue to try to speak in your own native tongue.

    I went to an Italian wedding once with an ex boyfriend and I suppose because I have dark hair and am tanned the non-english speaking relatives who came to Australia for the wedding assumed I was Italian and continued to speak to me in Italian even though I kept saying "I don't speak Italian, sorry" - I knew they couldn't understand what I was saying but ah, I couldn't say it in Italian.

    It used to frustrate me when I worked in retail too but you are talking about sick people in hospital, that concerns me a bit you are supposed to be in a caring, helping profession. I'm not dismissing what you are saying. I think people should make an effort to learn the language or at least carry an english phrase book but these people are possibly too sick or in too much pain to make these efforts.
    No, i deal with it daily myself when installing cable tv. People are just lazy and expect EVERYONE to cater to their needs and wants.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Also, this isn't about people having to learn the language of the country they move to, it's about egocentric people who stubbornly think that I'm magically going to start understanding them by getting pissed, talking louder, etc. I'm not begrudging them for not knowing English, as there's not much you can do about it at the moment. I am pissed at people who think that everyone should magically understand them. I've been in tons of situations in which I had no idea what everyone was saying, but I got around it. I have no pity for people who can't even think to speak more slowly. I'm willing to cater to their needs a bit by learning a few words, but if they expect me to be a total cater to their egocentricism...

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    Banned rozz's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    When I went to France, I attempted to speak French. Now, granted, I mangled it. But I tried, and that seemed to go a long way. Everyone was really nice to me. If you try, they're nice. If you act like an ass and jabber on in your own language, then you get attitude right back. Duh.

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    Featured Member lunchbox's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    KJ -

    Don't know if you care, but Taco Millagro (Westheimer and Kirby) has a free Spanish class on Monday nights. I've heard it's very good, but I've never had time to go. I have tried the food, and it's a shitty version of 100% Taquito.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Quote Originally Posted by lunchbox View Post
    KJ -

    Don't know if you care, but Taco Millagro (Westheimer and Kirby) has a free Spanish class on Monday nights. I've heard it's very good, but I've never had time to go. I have tried the food, and it's a shitty version of 100% Taquito.
    Wow, good to know. Thanks.

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    God/dess jaizaine's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    I know a lot about the shit you have to deal with, my mum is a nurse and she works in aged care with a lot of patients suffering dementia.
    I think nurses are underappreciated and should get danger money for the types of abuse that they have to deal with.
    I have seen her come home with scratches and bruises, which pisses me off obviously coz I don't want anyone touching my mum even if it is an 80 year old dementia patient.

    I did read your post and I was not judging you at all or calling you unmerciful. All I was trying to get across was that, as you would know, people are not at the best when they are sick.
    Yes I agree getting louder and yelling when you are not understood is ethnocentric. So I think you also misunderstood my post coz I was not judging or criticising, I respect anyone who could do nursing, I know I couldn't handle it.

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    Featured Member Krazyjane's Avatar
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    Default Re: I hate ethnocentric egocentrics

    Yeah, I know that people aren't at their best when they're sick, but ethnocentrically egocentric people are like that regardless of their comfort level. The simply can't understand that you can't understand, and won't make any efforts.

    Point in case: Today I attended to a women who spoke no English and made no effort. Even after I asked, "Mas facile, por favor," she kept speaking rapid Spanish. No slowing down, no using simpler words, nothing. However, her 3-year old son visited after the birth, and she spoke in simplified rhetoric that I could understand perfectly. It annoyed me that she could dumb down her rhetoric for her son, but not for me. It's the same thing. I did not let my annoyance show, as she didn't get rude and I'm not a total bitch. I did my best with my limited Spanish, ensured her comfort, chatted with her, and gave her a massage. She was very nice, but I'm still annoyed with the fact that she couldn't dumb things down for me.

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