So you better be careful and think twice about reading this entry today. Don't say I didn't warn you . . . .
We're leaving on vacation next Tuesday morning - I hope. So naturally I've got this long list of things I want to accomplish before we leave. But, as usual, things never go according to plan. Ole says I always bite off more than I can chew and the lists I make are always too long. Maybe he's right, but something happened tonight that REALLY got my goat!!
I have all my flowers set up on a watering system so all I have to do is turn a knob and everything gets watered. So far this summer I haven't hooked it up to the automatic timer because we've had so much moisture I only turn on the system when the pots start to dry out.
I worked outside all afternoon in 90 degree heat, futzing around with this and that, trying to get things ready to take care of themselves for the month that we'll be gone. One of the things on my list was to hook up the new automatic timer that I bought at W-mart earlier this spring. As I said, I haven't needed it yet but things are getting dry now. I've had timers on my watering system for years, but to this point have only had one timer per water line. The new one I bought as the capability to handle four lines and can be set to turn on each line at a different time and shut off automatically.
I dragged the box out of the drawer I had tossed it into out in the garage, opened it up, put in the batteries (I could figure that out on my own) and then opened the instructions to see how to program the four different zones.
I paged through, and then I paged through again, and then one more time. Then I brought the instructions to Ole and had him look at them. He paged through them several times and do you know what? THERE WERE NO INSTRUCTIONS WRITTEN IN ENGLISH!!! There was French, Spanish, Chinese, and it looked like Arabic to me - BUT NO @#$*& ENGLISH!!
Last time I checked I thought I was living in the United States where we all speak English - did I miss something somewhere? Did something happen when I wasn't looking?
Tomorrow that timer is going back to W-mart even if I don't have the receipt. Not only is that manager going to get his *&^% timer back, but I'm also going to give him a piece of my mind!! I may never buy anything from W-Mart again.
WHAT is this country coming to anyway!! What's happening here? It's been happening so slowly that lots of us just don't pay attention. Years ago (about 20 or so) when Lovely Daughter started junior high - the first year she brought home the school handbook - all written in English. The next year she brought home the handbook it was divided into two sections - English first and Spanish second. The third year she brought home the handbook Spanish encompassed the first section and English was in the back. Boy, I guess that put things in perspective for me way back then.
But this takes the cake and makes me REALLY P.Oed.
Okay. I have to go settle down now or I'll never sleep tonight and I have too many things to do tomorrow.
Love Lena,
PS: I'm so grumpy over this happening that I think I'll just let my flowers fry while we're gone. I just don't care anymore.
THE ADVENTURES OF OLE & LENA A Stud & and Hot Dish
I can totally understand. Something is wrong in America. I get very frustrated when I call a company, etc., and it says "Push 1 for English." I am in America, English is the language of America, why do I have to push anything on the phone? Anxious to see what Wallymart has to say about this one.
ReplyDeleteI can totally understand. Something is wrong in America. I get very frustrated when I call a company, etc., and it says "Push 1 for English." I am in America, English is the language of America, why do I have to push anything on the phone? Anxious to see what Wallymart has to say about this one.
ReplyDeleteYou are right -- something is definitely wrong. (And I won't go into W...rt, either physically or theoretically.)
ReplyDeleteYes, America is a hodgepodge of customs and languages. I've always valued that, even when it means I may have to look further for what I need. But there is absolutely no thought behind what languages are used where. (I used to say I could read "the ladies' room" in five languages; why do they need to give me a picture?)
Some years ago, the United States dropped food packages (like MREs) on a country that had been badly hurt. I don't remember which one, except I think it was either Arab- or Persian-speaking. The instructions were not in English, of course. They were in...Spanish! As GolfWidow said, that was not very Farsi-ing of them, was it?
Not much to say, I guess, other than 'Hi!' I'm back. Something is *very* wrong in America, and it goes so deep and is so fundamental that the symptoms pop up all over the place, apparently unrelated, and no one seems to know what to do. Personally, I think it would be a good start if instead of pushing 'multiculturalism' we went back to pushing 'patriotism.' We have to love ourselves, first. ... Just my 2c Mel
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty insulated here in Small Town, Montana. We don't have many other ethnic groups. They don't like the 8 month long winters. ;o) Our school district just hired a full time ESL (English Second Language) teaching aide last year. I remember when I lived in CA, often feeling out of place because English isn't only my FIRST language, it's my only language. When Shelby wanted to take French as her foreign language, her counselor advised her to take spanish instead because "it's the language of the future." Shelby's a bit like her mom though...she took French anyway. Enjoy your vacation! Let your flowers be damned, you can plant new ones next year.
ReplyDeleteMel (Anonymous) has such a "novel" ideal - can you imagine patriotism instead of multiculturalism? If only - - -
ReplyDelete