RE: Institutional Discrimination

RE: Institutional Discrimination (Full Version)

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TheHeretic -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (5/31/2014 6:29:49 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: joether If a company is going to require its employees to do something, its up to the company to provide tutors/teachers to bring those employees up to speed. That's called training, Joether, but the trainee is expected to bring some basic skills to the table. If a new guy got into my truck his first day on the job, for instance, I assumed he could read the street and road signs, and got right into how to safely operate the machine. I'd theoretically support a requirement for very basic English skills to get a taxi driver's license and conversational competence to renew it. I can't imagine telling private companies they can't set their own minimum competency requirements. I say theoretically, because I'm not sure it's a big enough issue to require a govenment intrusion. A taxi driver who is able to clearly communicate with his customers is going be more successful in the job, and make better tips. A recent immigrant's English skills are unlikely to remain static, working with a public speaking the common tongue, either.

dcnovice -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (5/31/2014 7:46:21 PM)
FR I clicked the link twice. Both times, I lost patience with the glacial load time. So I haven't seen/read the story. Winging it with some stray thoughts from a frequent taxi passenger: -- No doubt about it, a language barrier considerably complicates conveying one's destination and actually getting there. On a recent visit, my brother had a cabbie who didn't know where the National Zoo is. Bro said it's at 3001 Connecticut Ave., N.W. The driver asked him to spell "Connecticut" so he could put it in the GPS. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. -- A key question in determining whether this is a fitting matter for government regulation is whether the cabbies work for taxi companies or as freelancers. We have both here. -- In terms of companies, the hiring of non-speakers suggests that there may be a shortage of English speakers. I'd rather have a cabbie with poor English than no cabbie at all. -- It seems a shame to enact a regulation that impedes folks from going out and earning a living--the very thing we claim to want workers to do. -- Another way to achieve the same effect, and benefit passengers like my brother, would be requiring that potential cabbies demonstrate some knowledge of the city. They'd almost certainly pick up some English along the way. -- I wonder if the problem might be worsened by cell phones. Two decades ago, cabbies and passengers talked. That gave immigrant cabbies daily practice in the language. Now, each natters on the phone, often in two different languages.

Musicmystery -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (5/31/2014 8:00:32 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: TheHeretic quote: ORIGINAL: joether If a company is going to require its employees to do something, its up to the company to provide tutors/teachers to bring those employees up to speed. That's called training, Joether, but the trainee is expected to bring some basic skills to the table. If a new guy got into my truck his first day on the job, for instance, I assumed he could read the street and road signs, and got right into how to safely operate the machine. I'd theoretically support a requirement for very basic English skills to get a taxi driver's license and conversational competence to renew it. I can't imagine telling private companies they can't set their own minimum competency requirements. I say theoretically, because I'm not sure it's a big enough issue to require a govenment intrusion. A taxi driver who is able to clearly communicate with his customers is going be more successful in the job, and make better tips. A recent immigrant's English skills are unlikely to remain static, working with a public speaking the common tongue, either. I can totally see, for example, a taxi service specializing in a foreign language. Government involvement here is inappropriate.

Musicmystery -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (5/31/2014 8:01:35 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri quote: ORIGINAL: thishereboi Yes, god forbid a company expect their employees to be able to communicate with the customers. This isn't about the company's expectations. This is about government mandating taxicab drivers know English. If it's the cab company deciding to only hire drivers who can speak English, that's entirely different. Exactly.

thompsonx -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 5:10:44 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: jlf1961 You mean someone passed a law requiring people to speak passable English in deference to other languages? It would make sense if the majority of people in this country spoke English.. I am not being sarcastic, considering how many regional dialects there are in this country, not even college grads with English majors speak proper English. I suggest the federal government pick one universal and solely American language for the country to speak, a nice simple language. My choices are Cherokee, Apache, Lakota or Cheyenne. None of these language have words that sound the same and mean something different or a bunch of words that mean the same thing. Now some of the posters here might suggest Klingon or Drazi. ] then there are the edumacated posters that would want to resurrect ancient Greek, Celt, or Latin. Any educated poster would vote for esperanto

TheHeretic -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 9:48:32 AM)
I'm trying to think of the last time I was in a taxi, and it's been a hell of a long time. It must have been in Vegas, better than 10 years ago. The driver got offended by the conversation my cousin and I were having, and threw us out of the car somewhere north of the Strip. I suppose having one who didn't speak English would have been a good thing that night.

Musicmystery -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 9:58:40 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: TheHeretic If a new guy got into my truck his first day on the job, for instance, I assumed he could read the street and road signs, and got right into how to safely operate the machine. If not, then your interview process really needs some attention.

Musicmystery -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 9:59:51 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: thompsonx Any educated poster would vote for esperanto Much of the world is multilingual. It's we Americans who are too dumb to master multiple languages.

dcnovice -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 10:00:28 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: TheHeretic I'm trying to think of the last time I was in a taxi, and it's been a hell of a long time. It must have been in Vegas, better than 10 years ago. The driver got offended by the conversation my cousin and I were having, and threw us out of the car somewhere north of the Strip. I suppose having one who didn't speak English would have been a good thing that night. Holy shit! What were you talking about?

TheHeretic -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 10:22:28 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: dcnovice Holy shit! What were you talking about? I was really quite drunk at the time, but I think we were joking about picking up a hooker we had passed, and double teaming her in the cab. That particular cousin and I have similar senses of humor, and our laugh fests even scare people who know us. All ended well. The ride saved us a couple miles of walk, he put us out in front of a bar, and we didn't pay what was already on the meter.

truckinslave -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 11:45:52 AM)
So. Guy approaches a line of taxis at O'hare. Asks the driver: "Do you speak English well?" Goes through several drivers before he finds one who, in hs personal opinion, speaks English well enough for communication not to be a problem. Is the guy a racist? Does it cause a major shitstorm?

Musicmystery -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 11:55:10 AM)
If it were a significant problem, a smart cab company would run a campaign touting the excellent and guaranteed English of its drivers. Probably with clearly marked cabs.

TheHeretic -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 11:56:58 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Musicmystery If it were a significant problem, a smart cab company would run a campaign touting the excellent and guaranteed English of its drivers. Probably with clearly marked cabs. Bingo

subrosaDom -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 11:58:20 AM)
Today, such a company would probably be sued by the Holder Justice Department for institutionalizing discrimination against the differently linguistically abled.

Musicmystery -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 11:59:26 AM)
You guys are gonna have to decide whether you're for government interfere or against it. Because you're really trying to have it both ways.

truckinslave -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 12:15:45 PM)
It is a real problem in many places, but in many jurisdictions, I doubt they could survive the lawsuits, or the attention from the appropriate licensing authority. Their gross would perhaps increase

thompsonx -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/1/2014 4:05:28 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Musicmystery quote: ORIGINAL: thompsonx Any educated poster would vote for esperanto Much of the world is multilingual. It's we Americans who are too dumb to master multiple languages. I don't know that we are too dumb as much as too arrogant.

DaddySatyr -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/2/2014 9:21:19 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: smileforme50 quote: ORIGINAL: DaddySatyr I really am torn on this. I don't think there should be a law requiring *anyone* to learn English. By the same token, there are jobs where speaking English is essential. I am not sure that being a taxi driver is one of them. Then, there's the side of me who comes from immigrant families whose members all learned English because they *wanted* to; because that's what one did, if one wanted to survive in a country that speaks English. This whole situation is just a huge shit sandwich. [sm=agree.gif] I don't have a problem with people preserving their native languages and cultures. I think it would have been really cool to grow up in a house speaking 2 languages.....my family's native language and English. While I don't think English should be the "official" language of the U.S., I also don't think we should be expected to jump through hoops to accommodate people who don't speak English. Plus, if you want to work in this country in a job where you interact with people who speak English, you should know the language well enough to do your job. If the cab driver can't take the fare to his requested destination, then he needs to learn to speak more English. I took the liberty of fixing the quote boxes. Based upon what you wrote, we don't entirely agree. Certainly I learned the languages of my fathers as well as English and I feel like it did nothing but benefit me. I raised my children the same way. What I don't agree with is that I do believe that English should be the official language. I used to live in a place where a good portion of the people were not native to the US and on the whole, the populace spoke very little English (they used to come to me to translate official papers and such). If we don't proclaim an official language, we are going to have to continue to "jump through hoops to accommodate people who don't speak English". If we don't have an official language, what is the reason for not continuing to jump through those hoops? "Sorry, we won't print the drivers' manual in Urdu because ... ummm ... we just don't want to." Or ... "Sorry, we print the drivers' manuals in English because that is our official language." I am all for the "free market" method for people who want to excel at their jobs to be motivated to do so by monetary gain/loss. Screen captures *still* RULE! Ya feel me?

DesideriScuri -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/2/2014 9:38:18 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DaddySatyr I am all for the "free market" method for people who want to excel at their jobs to be motivated to do so by monetary gain/loss. Careful now. You might start showing your racism. [8\|]

DaddySatyr -> RE: Institutional Discrimination (6/2/2014 9:43:04 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri quote: ORIGINAL: DaddySatyr I am all for the "free market" method for people who want to excel at their jobs to be motivated to do so by monetary gain/loss. Careful now. You might start showing your racism. [8\|] Yeah, expecting people to play on the level playing field provided is obviously not very "progressive" of me. But, ya know what? This brings up a phenomenon from where I used to live; there were two taxi companies that sprang up that catered to the Spanish speakers. The entrepreneurial attitude would seem to demand that people that just refuse to speak English find a way to make that refusal work for them so that they can still "make a buck". Screen captures *still* RULE! Ya feel me?

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