Celebrating the Red, White & Blue...in English

You know what bugs me? Ok, lots of things but I recognize you don't have that much time to read my whining so lets just focus on what's bugging me today.

The past three day weekend was marvelous. We celebrated America's birthday and heritage with good friends, good food, and good times. But as Monday marches on, I'm faced with an irritant that's struck me as particularly...well...irritating just after cheering the Red, White and Blue all weekend. And this is it: I hate when I call up a customer service number (to any company--phone company, satellite, Internet provider, etc) and the first option is "For English, press 1."

Really? Since we are living in America, can't we just assume that English is the language spoken and then give an Option to press 1 for other language choices? Spanish, Hungarian, Russian, Pig Latin...

We all know America is the melting pot of the world, and lots of folks living here came from other lands and speak other languages. I am very proud to be an American and know that living here means that we welcome non-native citizens with open arms (except when they arrive via the sea with 20 of their closest friends clinging to a makeshift raft, or running under the cover of night across someone's pasture in Texas). But whether immigrants stepped ashore legally or they snuck in, newsflash: our native language is English. That should at least be the automatic default for...well...anyone or any company. You shouldn't have to request English be the language you receive service in.

The need to be politically correct these days is taken to ridiculous extremes. American companies (or Americans) should not need to worry about offending someone because we have the audacity (gasp!) to think they should be able to speak English. Welcome to America--enjoy what we have to offer but follow the rules and speak the language. If you don't like it, the makeshift raft goes both ways.