So there I was a week or so ago, visiting the “facilities” in a Hastings. For those unaware, Hastings is a book/video/magazine/comic book store chain. Not really sure how wide spread; I’ve only seen ’em here in Utah, but I suppose they’re nationwide. Anyway, I noticed this sign on the door:
Below the pointless “mission statement” sign is a relatively universal “the law requires employees to wash their hands after poopin’ ” sign that you’ll see in the restroom of just about every store or restaurant. But it dawned on me that the sign below *that* was odd. That there would be a sign in Spanish is not unusual; sad, but not unusual. Lots of places, the clientele can’t read English worth a damn, and you can’t blame a company for wanting to communicate with as many potential customers as possible. But here, the intent is obviously *not* to communicate with customers, but with employees. The Law, after all, does not require customers to wash up, just employees.
The existence of a sign in Spanish meant specifically for the staff means that the management of the company has concluded that they have employees who cannot read English. In a bookstore.
Is it really so much to ask that employees in a bookstore have the ability to, oh, I dunno, read?
8 Responses to “Se lave las manos”
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Being unable to read English is different from being illiterate. I haven’t been to this store but I wouldn’t be surprised if they have books in Spanish. Some people like to criticize companies for catering to Spanish speakers with signs in Spanish and Spanish speaking customer service but in a competitive market, it can increase business and making money is what business is all about.
Besides, I want the person making my food to know that they must wash their hands after using the bathroom, no matter what language they speak.
> Being unable to read English is different from being illiterate.
Errr… functionally, there’s little difference when the things to be read are in English. Me, I’m quite proficient at reading English. But if the job involved selling books in Mandarin… well, I’d not be the best choice. The fact that I could read English wouldn’t change the fact that I’d be illiterate with the actual products that matter.
> I wouldn’t be surprised if they have books in Spanish.
No doubt. Also German, French and Russian. But the store is overwhelmingly in *English.* A bookstore employee who can’t read the books the store is selling seems like kind of a useless appendage.
> Spanish speaking customer service
It’s one thing to have an employee who can communicate with the self-selecting-serfs who cannot speak English. It would be quite another to have an employee who can communicate *only* with the non-English-speaking minority, wouldn’t you say?
> I want the person making my food
Making a hamburger or a taco or a pizza would not seem to require the ability to read English… or indeed *any* language. Being able to help someone find a book or magazine with a certain title or on a certain topic, or to be able to speak half-assed intelligently on them, *would* seem to require proficiency in reading English.
How about a bank teller who cannot do basic math? A color-blind paint-mixer at the Sherwin-Williams? A tone-deaf piano tuner? Some people are just plain not suited for some jobs. Inability to read English? Here, make me a sammich. But don’t try to sell me a book that you not only haven’t read… but *can’t* read.
Is it possible that there’s some Federal or State law that requires signs in the languages of a certain percentage of the population?
Can I demand such a sign in Chinese because otherwise it’s racist? Or does that logic only apply to “the usual suspects”?
Hastings Mission Statement also is applicable to a Pimp or a House of ILL Repute . Caution! Corporate Noodleheads at work..
Admin,
There are people who still can’t read and write (and who were taught English). I graduated high school with a guy who couldn’t read or write (he graduated because he was one of the star sports players and his parents had influence in the community).
Also, you can’t expect someone working at a bookstore to be able to read when there are people working there who can’t count, or who can’t think on their feet or for themselves. I have went into numerous stores and encountered employees that can’t count or can’t really think for themselves.
For most of us it is common sense to wash ourselves after going to the bathroom, but I’ve mwt people4 who have absolutely no common sense.
By the way, they have Hastings stores in Arizona and Washington.
You point out this is a national chain book seller. Such people tend to be left thinkers and therefore into multiculti – there’s a good chance they’d put the sign up for form’s sake. Of course in LA, the spanish sign goes on top, if the owner is particularly broad minded he might include the english version for form’s sake.
Maybe the night custodian can’t read English and it’s there for his/ her benefit?