Was I wrong?(all opinions welcome, even yours Decado :P)

July 15, 2008, 8:42 AM

Hi peeps,

I don't know if i've mentioned this, but im in Miami atm visiting my uncle who I haven't seen for 4 years. Hes a nice man with the same scatterbrained sense of humor that I have.

What I am about to explain happened a few hours ago, Me and my uncle after I arrived to his home, talked for a few hours, and then decided to go out and have a nice meal. My uncle mentioned this nice cuban place that made the food fast, and it was delicious, I decided "eh why not".

So we arrive at the place, and I notice its most likely based on its appearance a family run bussiness. We enter and are told to sit wherever, we chose a nice booth near the door, cuz were lazy. A nice lady probably in her early 30's asked us in English what we wanted to drink, me and my uncle responded in Spanish that we both wanted a coke with lime. The lady smiled, and responded in Spanish if we were also ready to order, not having even glanced at the menu we jokingly responded with that statement, the lady laughed, and said she'd be back with our drinks. After about a minute or so, she returned, and asked us if we were ready, my uncle decided he wanted some cuban roast pork with arroz congri(white rice, with black beans cuban style), with mofongo(stewed plantains). I decided to have the same but instead of Mofongo, I wanted Tostones Maduros. The lady told us what fine choices we made, and that she'd place in the order for us.

Next I hear a male voice calling for an "Olga", i look at our waitresses nametag and realized she was Olga, she apologized to us and said she'd be back. After 5 minutes a tall guy probably 4-5 years older than me, told us in Spanish that Olga had something important to do in the kitchen, and instead to place our orders in the front counter, I told the guy no problem at all, and he apologized for the inconvienance.

I got up and approached the front counter, and saw a nice looking girl, probably my age behind the counter. She already knew my situation, and asked me for my order(in english), I told her in spanish what me and my uncle wanted, and she gave me a confused look, I then assumed that maybe since most Puerto Ricans speak Spanish very fast, that maybe she didn't understand me, with that in mind, I apologized, and spoke slower. After finishing, the girls confused expression turned to an angry one, and she told me she didn't speak any spanish, and said I was very rude and stereotypical. I was quite angry at the other remarks she made, but kept my cool & said nothing none the less. A middle-aged man stepped out of the kitchen, spoke to the girl, and she went into the kitchen angry and sobbing a bit, the man told me he was her father, and apologized for his daughters rude behavior, I told him no problem, and ordered. Just like Olga he told me we both have good taste in food, I agreed, was given a order number & returned to the table. My uncle who just returned from the bathroom asked me what the commotion was, I told him, and for 5 minutes we talked about it. After that I heard our number called, and me and my uncle decided to just take the food, and eat it, at home. On the way home I questioned if the situation truly was my fault, but my uncle insisted I did nothing wrong.

With that said I have two questions for you guys:

Was it wrong of me to assume the girl was spanish speaking?
Am I truly rude & stereotypical, or is the girl just a drama queen?
Who's truly at fault

Feel free to say whatever comes to your mind, answering those 3 questions. If you had a similiar experiance feel free to share.

- Kuja

July 15, 2008, 8:50 AM

Well if you were in a restaurant where the other waiters/waitresses could speak Spanish then I guess it's only fair to presume that the girl could as well. To be honest I just think she was being a drama queen about it all, someone speaking to you in a different language is hardly anything to get angry or upset about so I wouldn't say you were rude.
To be honest if I was her I probably would have just laughed in a nice way and said 'I can't speak Spanish'...so I'd say she was in the wrong for going over the top about it.

July 15, 2008, 8:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Raiden~

Well if you were in a restaurant where the other waiters/waitresses could speak Spanish then I guess it's only fair to presume that the girl could as well. To be honest I just think she was being a drama queen about it all, someone speaking to you in a different language is hardly anything to get angry or upset about so I wouldn't say you were rude.
To be honest if I was her I probably would have just laughed in a nice way and said 'I can't speak Spanish'...so I'd say she was in the wrong for going over the top about it.

Thank you for your opinion, I agree whole heartidly.

- Kuja

July 15, 2008, 8:53 AM

Well I personally don't see how you are meant to know she couldn't speak spanish, after all, considering where you are you'd expect that the people there would be able to speak it. I think that girl was just throwing a winge just because you wanted to speak the language of the area you were in(spanish). I would have to say the girl was at fault, if she'd just been a bit more tolerable when you were speaking spanish and just asked you to speak english since she knew no spanish then the situation would have been avoided. That is just how I see it though.

July 15, 2008, 10:13 AM

She assumed you could speak english didn't she?

July 15, 2008, 10:21 AM

Should've snaped back and told her to bloody well learn her native language then, keep in theme with her place of work for authenticity. Pfft, waitresses.

Nah you wern't in the wrong. She just overreacted.

July 15, 2008, 5:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decado

She assumed you could speak english didn't she?

For once your not against me huh .

- Kuja

July 15, 2008, 7:14 PM

Kuja, that was FOR you not against you...

July 15, 2008, 7:26 PM

Well given that you were in Miami, a city in a predominantly English speaking country, I'd say it was a little naive of you to expect that she could speak Spanish, purely because other people who worked there had. Also, if she had a blank look after you first spoke to her in Spanish, surely common sense would have told you that she doesn't speak Spanish?

That said, I can't see where the "stereotypical" comment came from. She probably just doesn't have any idea what the word means.