I need to plant some trees; where may I procure a Mexican?

So, what's the official language of the Netherlands? Hungary?

Hmm, fair enough, let me look that up.

According to Wikipedia, the official language of Hungary is Hungarian, and nothing else. But trust me, when it comes to nationalism vs. tolerance and diversity, Hungary is not an example a reasonable person would want to follow.

More surprisingly however, the Netherlands has an official language too - or more than one, rather. Dutch and Frysian are both official languages, while Low Saxon and Limburgish are officially recognised as regional languages.

In practice, this means that all provincial and local government documents in Frysia have to be bilingual (Dutch and Frysian), as do the signs of city names etc.

But yes, you got me.

Repeating Hillary Clinton, I asserted that if English is declared the official language, translators will no longer be assigned to people in hospitals or courts who dont speak fluent English. This doesnt appear to be necessarily true.

After all, in the Netherlands, Dutch and Frysian are the country's official languages, while English, German, Arabic, Turkish etc do not enjoy official status - and yet, municipal governments publish leaflets in a dozen languages, as do hospitals..

I dont know about how it works with translators in courts and the like, but a quick Google did find me information from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs about what the procedures are if you're arrested in Germany. Germany has an official language too (German, with additional recognition of 'native' minority languages like Sorbian and Romany). And yet, apparently, a foreigner like me being arrested there has the right to a court-supplied interpreter anyway. So apparently that right does not depend on there not being an "official language".

So it seems I was wrong - it might be possible to declare English the official langauge without patients and witnesses losing their rights to an interpreter and such things.

However, this does raise another issue.

Your point was that you dont want to have to "press 1 for English". But it appears, then, that declaring English the official language won't make any difference, there.

After all, Dutch is apparently the official language of the Netherlands - and yet many state, municipality and other public institutions all provide multi-lingual information. So do businesses, of course, as soon as they see a market for it.

So even with English as official language, you'd still need to "press 1 for English"... so, what do you hope to get from it?

Ain't nuttin' lower than a Low Saxon.

Except maybe a tuba.

My landscaping company doesn't hire illegal Mexicans, so we charge $35 per hour per man to plant trees. We pay our workers a living wage and they usually quit to go work in an air conditioned store like Home Depot and make 1/2 what we pay because they don't like to work outside in the heat and dirt. They are also about 1/2 as fast as any migrant worker I've ever worked with (legal or illegal).

A local farmer tried to hire high school students to pick strawberries at $10 per hour (a high wage for my area) - none of them lasted more than two days. America would starve if the Mexicans were eliminated from US agriculture. Well, maybe not starve - we could always import more food from South America and China.

I've worked with plenty of lazy illegal aliens. They don't all bust their ass.

I'm sure that's true Slappy, but I think the reason so many of them do work hard is because they had to go through hell to get here. Most of the lazy ones stay in Mexico and complain about their country's lack of opportunities.
I'm not in favor of people coming here illegally, but I am in favor of letting in people who want to do the crappy, dirty jobs that Americans pass over in favor of working for WalMart.

The other day here in west Michigan I went to Wendy's for lunch. A bunch of mexicans wearing their colors were eating in the restaurant, while two nice looking, tanned and toned white women were mowing the lawns....

Talk about a difference in culture... you'd never see that in California.

And what were you doing at the time, apart from sitting down and eating, just like those Mexicans? Fancy you relaxing and eating whilst those poor white women were having to mow some grass. :wink:

Shame on you for allowing that to happen, and double shame on those pesky Mex's, who should know better than to take a lunch break during their working day.

Don't be a d-b. I'm simply observing. And you would NEVER see it in California.

No, the Mexicans there would never be seen dead in a Wendy's. :wink:

That too.

Michigan is slow to accept change. My daughter who took Spanish in California was shocked to discover the version they teach here is the one spoken in Spain... not Mexico...

And do they teach Canuck in the English lessons?

Good morning class, eh?

Good morning Miss, eh?

Doncha know.

Democracy being what it is, and the population being what it is, perhaps it won't be too long until everythings published first in Spanish then in English.

You absolutely, positively, won't find any of them here, despite what the sign says.

Rumor has it shiksa, that your very urine, will etch glass. Is that true?

Only after I eat asparagus.