"Wid or Widout?"
Although still suffering from a bad case of blogaise, I can't help throwing out my two cents of the recent controversy caused by Gaiutra Bahadur's article "An old struggle to adapt to a new country's ways" published Tuesday in the Inquirer. The article chronicles Geno's Steak's adoption of an English-Only customer service policy.
Is it me or am I the only person who does not see the irony of Jospeh Vento's, the owner of Geno's Steaks, English-only customer service policy?
Someone should tell that ass that he barely speaks English himself.
Last I checked, it is not only Mexican immigrants who have trouble ordering a steak at Geno's, it is every last English-Speaking tourist who cannot figure out what garbled words a Geno's server is asking when he demands whether the customer wants "a steak wid" or "a steak widout."
When I meet people who have visited Philly, inevitably they tell me about the horrible experience they had at Geno's. First, they tell me that the cheesesteak sucks. I will agree - Geno's steaks do suck. Next, they will qualify their appraisal of the steak by explaining they would have liked the place more if their steak was not served with an unwanted helping of insults as they struggled to figure out whether they wanted their steak "wid" or "wid out" while some swarthy dude shouted at them in a thick Philly accent (broken English).
Vento is one of a handful Philadelphians who give this city a bad name. 99% of Philadelphians are very nice, friendly people but the 1% like Vento get all the press.
Whether it's a couple obnoxious fans booing Michael Irvin or Santa Claus, or racists like Vento making English-speaking tourists feel like crap by insulting them as they struggle to figure out whether they want their steak "wid" or "wid out," these "fuckwads" - as Albert Yee put it - are bringing this great city down.
8 comments:
that geno's guy, (or pats guy, not sure they both suck) was on the local news here in dc talking about the spanish language thing. Its really taking off- I'm sure he'll see at least a sucker a day passing through philly from dc for his nasty ass sandwiches.
I completely agree. I also heard him speak, and his English is awful.
The steaks do suck, and the service is lousy. The only people that like that stuff are folks who have bad taste buds.
hey atleast he speaks english. i have people come in my work and need a translator who is buying car insurance and can't even read the street signs. i think that is ridilous. i think they all should speak english
why is he still in business then???
Who?
Imagine travelling in another country coming upon a similar sign? What if you were in Italy and were struggling to order in a restaurant and some ass said "Speak Italian!". But then again a mono-lingual American probably expects all foreigners living in their own country to speak English when he comes to visit.
Um, he's not a Philadelphian. He's from Jersey.
Stop assuming that every owner or operator of a small business in Philadelphia is "from here."
Vento is an immigrant who came to the land of opportunity, the cradle of American democracy, and chose to spit on people who came here to live here.
Admirable indeed.
Anonymous 2, who can't spell the word ridiculous, is a shining badge of humanity himself.
And by "immigrant," I mean "lout from Jersey" - I was not speaking of his (presumed) Italian-American heritage. I don't care where in the States you're from, if you're not from Philly, and you don't live here, you don't get to represent us. He IS here, but he ain't from here, ya hear?
I am also not from here, but I'm here now, dangit.
Eat at Ish Kabibble's.
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