Como esta?

This is not a unique thought expressed by Bill Balsamico a restaurant & bar owner in North Versailles, PA. He's complaining about having the option of a message in English or Spanish.

There are many Americans that are frustrated not just with this message but when they hit the number 1 they may get a person on the other end of the line who speaks Englishso broken they are hard to understand.

So it isn't hard to understand Bill's Billboards and why he does them. Casa D'Ice was originally an ice house that Bill converted into a successful business and he succeeded so why do we have to molly coddle those who cannot speak English?

First of all I have to say we have always had immigrants most of whom have and did learn English and unless we want to change the nature and history of our country we will always encounter people with language problems.

"...obviously, knowledge of a language is an acquired, not an inherent, characteristic — anyone can learn English, regardless of nationality or skin color. After all, immigrants already in the United States who don't speak English are lining up for classes, confident that learning English will improve their prospects. And millions of newcomers have indeed mastered English as a second language, their children often growing up not speaking the language of the old country at all." ~ Center for Immigration Studies

I don't think it's disrespectful to Bill to point out that not everyone who comes into this country does not already speak English and need to learn it in school. I also don't think we should assume that everyone who visits the United States including Family of citizens and tourists can speak English.

I've traveled to Mexico and I do not speak Spanish and was pleased to find that the places I visited generally had people there to help me with the language barriers. I don't think this country, in general, is any less thoughtful as those in Mexico. So I take that small inconvenience of dialing 1 should not be a problem when we understand why it is done.

New citizens to this country, contrary to some opinions that differ, do want to learn English to succeed and do want English language classes but they are not all wealthy. Here is an example.

"... some 600 immigrant adults were jammed into the auditorium of Fuller Middle School. Everyone knew the school’s free ESL courses were an obligatory stop for immigrants eager to learn the language of their future -- but that not all of them would get enrolled.

“If you don’t speak English, you’re missing out at work, at home. When you do, you’re more respected,” said Luciene Campos in Portuguese. Campos is a Brazilian immigrant who was trying for the second time to get into one of Fuller's ESL courses. Waiting patiently with her was a little girl, a friend's daughter, whom Campos was babysitting.

“I am sorry we don’t have spots available for everybody. This lottery is the fairest way to distribute spots,” said Christine Tibur, speaking into a microphone. Tibur, the director of ESL, created the lottery when, in 2002, she saw prospective ESL students sleeping on the school’s sidewalks the night before enrollment day."

Only 185 of the 600 who entered the lottery was chosen.

Believe me when I say it's easier to press that "1" even a few times a day than learn a foreign language, win a lottery or have to wait until you have the money for classes. If we want new citizen applicants and new citizens to learn our language then forgive them the #1 we have to dial.