Stupid Guest Tricks

Fantasmic_Freak wrote:Pull down.. No Habla English. AhHhHhHhH! times 50.. a group from mexico, didnt speak a word but the word english. Idiots, you come to another country that the main language is english wuddja think, im not speakin spanish to you. :D:

If you read my postings, I feel the same exact way. Well, in my case, I've been nice enough to speak to all of them in their native language, Spanish, however, most of them still speak English after telling me they don't speak English. I speak English again, same crap: "I don't speak English, speak Spanish." What the hell?

This is why I haven't been speaking any other language at work except English, the main language of the U.S.A.

They should also come up with shirts that read: "I'm the star of my own reality TV freak show," "I don't care about my children," or "I'm so stupid, I paid with my brain instead of a credit card."

How about "I'm gonna be in debt so I might as well pick on a Cast Member to make myself feel better" or "Don't take me personally, I'm a big dummy who is extremely self centered and needs a lot of attention."

Fantasmic_Freak wrote:Pull down.. No Habla English. AhHhHhHhH! times 50.. a group from mexico, didnt speak a word but the word english. Idiots, you come to another country that the main language is english wuddja think, im not speakin spanish to you. :D:

sandravb79 wrote:Yes, it's like all those Americans that visit Belgium/ the Netherlands/ France/ ... and don't speak anything else than English, and they also expect everyone else to speak English...

First post in this forum. This is a subject that lately is driving me insane]do know[/I] English just make believe that they don't, just to see if they can get away with stuff. One of my nametags does not have the language tag, because it's the one that I got when I was hired and I never said back then I could speak a second language. This nametag I keep it in my locker just in case I forget the one that has it. I can't count the numbers of times that I have heard guests say (thinking that I can't understand them) to their people to pretend that they don't understand. Then they get upset when I call their attention for their behavior. One of them had the audacity to be offended because I was being deceitfull just because it didn't say I spoke spanish. People don't have the decency anymore to be ashamed and face their actions when they do something wrong. That just upsets me, because you are not exactly teaching your kid anything nice.

Tinker Bell wrote: I can't magically learn a language on request]do know[/I] English just make believe that they don't, just to see if they can get away with stuff.

People don't have the decency anymore to be ashamed and face their actions when they do something wrong. That just upsets me, because you are not exactly teaching your kid anything nice.

Tell it like it is. How in the world do you think I feel when that vicious circle is played? Last year, a lady asked me, "Habla espanol." So I told her honestly, "Si, un poquito, que necesitas?" Afterwards, she spoke no Spanish. Just English. That's fine, but I still don't know why she asked me if I speak Spanish when she's didn't utilize it.

In some instances, the "no speak English" recipients have children, who I fear will pick up on their behavior. No surprise, their children are smarter 'cause they speak English. The parents can't understand simple phrases - "Where are you from?" "How are you?" "How many people in your party?" It's not like I'm asking them them to explain Newton's Laws. The kids, most of the time, speak English very well.

It's messed up. Such bad examples all over Disney World.

Thats why I use hand gestures...... no, not that one (onstage at least :twisted: ). The most common one I use is for glasses to get back philhar glasses that someone accidentally or "accidentally" took from the theatre. I also hold up how ever many number of fingers of the row I send them at load while trying to say the number as clearly as possible. So far I have had minimal trouble with parties that do not speak english when I am given the opportunity to use hand gestures.

The problem with hand gestures is that some can mean different things to people from other countries. Here's a couple of examples I was told....

This prominent pastor, I won't say who, went to a country where English wasn't a major language. He was a guest at a church where the people put on a concert in his honor. After the concert was over, in order to show his approval, this pastor gave a double "okay" sign (both hands)--and the congregation reacted in shock. Turns out, what we consider to be a sign for "okay" is the equivalent of flipping the bird to these people.

Another time, an American youth group went to an island nation in the South Pacific to help build a church for the native congregation. At lunchtime, both the American kids and their youth leaders and the native kids and their leaders sat in a large dining hall, native kids on one side, Americans on the other. The native kids were quiet and well-mannered, but the American kids were joking, laughing, fooling around and generally being noisy. Finally the American youth pastor got his kids' attention, and told them to keep it down, while making the sign of a forefinger horizonally across his throat. The native pastor saw this, and reacted with shock, then anger. He pulled the American pastor outside, and bawled him out--I thought you were this great Christian leader, what kind of influence are you to these kids, etc.. The American pastor listened to all this, stunned and puzzled, until the native pastor had finished by asking, "Why did you use that gesture?" The American pastor said that it meant for the kids to be quiet, explaining that a cut across the throat meant no talking. The native pastor settled down, and apologized--"Here, that gesture means, 'I'm your sex slave, I'll do whatever you want.'"

There's a book on this very subject, by Ron Axtell, titled "Gestures"; it's a real eye-opener. I recommend it highly.

felinefan wrote:The problem with hand gestures is that some can mean different things to people from other countries. Here's a couple of examples I was told....

Haven't read the book, but I'd read the same thing elsewhere. Apparently, the "OK" sign is the equivalent of "a--hole" in many cultures. A friend of mine also got a hostile reaction from a "thumbs up" once in high school from an exchange student, I believe middle-Eastern; my friend came to learn that that gesture was like a middle finger here.

Me? I'm sticking with a two-finger point. And I'm not even a CM.

Speaking of two finger points, I've learned to be careful when using the two finger point around guests from England. One time, I pointed with two fingers - directing them to their designated rows on the ride - and they looked stunned. I've also pointed with two fingers with other guests - not British - and whenever someone British saw me pointing like that, they thought I was flipping those people off. It's even worse when I use the two finger point in front of their faces when giving directions. With those people, I use the whole hand.

Pinoy_Stitch_84 wrote:Speaking of two finger points, I've learned to be careful when using the two finger point around guests from England. One time, I pointed with two fingers - directing them to their designated rows on the ride - and they looked stunned. I've also pointed with two fingers with other guests - not British - and whenever someone British saw me pointing like that, they thought I was flipping those people off. It's even worse when I use the two finger point in front of their faces when giving directions. With those people, I use the whole hand.

BTW, the reason for this stems from the middle ages. You see, back then English archers were really good and kind of the bane of the French, so when English archers got captured by the French they would cut off the two fingers that are used to pull the bow string with, which are the same two fingers we use in the two finger point. So, English archers got to waving those two fingers at the French in a way to mock them and basically say, I still have my fingers. So it's not exactly the equivalent of flipping someone off, but it is still pretty rude.

Trust another SCAdian to come up with the story.

(I was gonna let them stew for a while before I told 'em)

CBeilby wrote:Trust another SCAdian to come up with the story.

(I was gonna let them stew for a while before I told 'em)

Yeah, but not only am I a SCAdian, I'm a history major, with a focus on the ancient and medieval world, so I'm an even bigger nerd. :D: