Taking over territory

I was watching TLC last night, kicked back on the bed, crocheting. Relaxed. Comfy. "Million Dollar Agent" went to commercial, and then I heard Spanish.

Spanish!

Century 21 is doing commercials in Spanish!

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem at all with people from other countries coming to America. I have no problem with people making a living as a translator for said immigrants. After all, it doesn't matter where you come from; you have to live somewhere.

When we were in Italy we really tried to learn Italian. I did learn some phrases, but my accent was so awful that most of the time I could have been speaking Swahili. However, we would have improved faster if we hadn't had such easy access to English speaking friends. We didn't HAVE to learn Italian. I'm grateful for the times when we had people around who could speak English, like when the fuel pump in the car died and Eric was in Rome for a class. However, had we not had that access, we probably would have taken a class or something. As it was, we learned enough that we could get around by train and conduct simple transactions in Italian. (Don't ask me to do it now; I've been back almost a year!)

That year gave me a new insight and a new empathy for people whose first language is not English. However, advertising in Spanish is a crutch. I know that English is not the 'official' language of the whole U.S., but it's the most commonly spoken. For pity's sake, if you want to live here, at least learn a few key phrases!

I can't help but think back in our history to the westward expansion. White men moved in without so much as a howdy do and displaced the people who were living on the land. I can't help but wonder how long it will be before the tables are turned, and white people are displaced?