Just got back from the corner store picking up a few supplies. Rewind. So I’m minding my own business and picking out items when I overhear an amusing exchange between a Spanish-speaking and probably illegal alien shelf stocker and an Ethiopian woman.
They’re in the meat section, and she’s asking him in broken English if what she’s holding is a package of chicken breasts. He grunts something I presumed was in Spanish, but she doesn’t understand him. This goes on for about a minute before she spots me. Rushing over, she holds the package up to my face, “Chicken breast?”
I guess I’ve got that “American” look. 
“Yes,” I tell her. Just in case, I told her the price. I move on to the next aisle. A few seconds later I hear her talking to a different poor English-speaking stocker about another product. In the olden days, you could ask stock people (or whatever they’re called) where items were, and they’d either tell you, in English, or find someone to help you. These days, chances are the stock guy won’t understand you, although you’re both in an English-speaking country.
While I’m in the check out line, a guy with a heavy Indian accent says something to the Ethiopian cashier about a bottle of water.
“Eh?” she asks. He repeats himself, but she’s having trouble understanding. Since I don’t provide translation services, I just observe, half-amused, half-dismayed.
Read about another amusing encounter I had. You know, I don’t mind skin color and cultural diversity, but it would be nice if immigrants bothered to learn the language. 
Do you have similar encounters you want to share?
Bonus question: What sort of person is missing from the graphic? Guess correctly, and you get a prize!
Update: Suing idiot companies that hire illegals (use BugMeNot to bypass reg.) under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute is a brilliant idea. The plaintiffs are suing some carpet company for conspiring “to artificially and illegally depress wages by hiring illegal immigrants.”
Several years ago the dedicated folks at the U.S. Attorneys Office in DC figured out they had to prosecute gangs under RICO if they ever hoped to make headway into the world of witness-killing thugs. Gangs are organized criminal enterprises (no matter how bumbling) that conspire to commit murder, sell narcotics, kidnap, etc., falling squarely under the statute. (Incidentally, drug conspiracy alone is enough to land you in prison for life under RICO.) It just might work against businesses that hire illegal aliens in violation of federal law.
Judicial Watch is suing the Town of Herndon (VA) on behalf of Herndon taxpayers for using public funds to build a day labor center for illegal aliens.
Don’t get mad. Get the law. Sometimes it works, and businesses and politicians can’t ignore it for long.
