Does a person have to be bi-lingual to live in No Idaho? (Sandpoint: Home Depot, job market)

[esselcue]

Without sounding too "snide" here...every sign in Arizona now, including in the department stores, malls, restaurants, etc, are printed in English & Spanish...in some instances the Spanish is printed first. Grocery stores are stocked with Spanish food stuffs. When one calls a company or business on the phone, at least half the time the first words you hear are Spanish, telling your to press numero ocho. I do speak a little high school Francais, but that has never helped me much here. Has this problem reached northern Idaho?

[pimit2]

Dear esselcue,

No dual-language signs, etc. are found in the Sandpoint area, where I live. If you can handle the menu board at Taco Bell, you'll be okay. That doesn't mean it won't change as long as our government refuses to enforce laws in favor of the Chamber of Commerce.


pimit2 (Bob)

[CosmicWizard]

You might need to brush up on your Canadian, eh?

[Sage of Sagle]

Yeah....I was going to say "yeah, you need to speak American [sic] and Canuck"....hahaha....

Since moving here I've heard Spanish once or twice, heard Norwegian a couple times, and German and French a few times. I think the only sign I can think of in English and Spanish is at Home Depot (aisle signs), which must have their signs made for the nationwide market.

[gc57]

What part of Amexica don't you get? LOL.

[bigbob25]

id worry more about the 8 mos of grey skies and the teeeny weeeney economy in this sandpoint area as far as evrything else english language still rules

[Sage of Sagle]

BigBob25,

From prior posts, we know that esselcue is looking for an area to retire so the job market isn't as germane from what I gather...and grey skies are one of the tradeoffs of living in several areas of the USA...

[Sage of Sagle]

Leave political rhetoric and barbed answers out of this discussion.

[bigtrees]

Idaho will be an nice retreat from those hating how Mexican it's become in Phoenix.

I am a Montana native that lived for a while in Phoenix, then have relocated back to Seattle. From first hand experience, I can say the majority of Spanish-language signs and influence are not present in the northern part of the country. You'll continue to see spanish language in Home Depot/Lowes and JCPenny since they are national, but never on road signs or pretty much anywhere else.

A story that you'll appreciate. I got in the habit of spelling my name (Greg) because many of the Spanish speaking population didn't know how to write it down. A week or two after moving to Seattle, I spelled my name for someone out of habit, and they looked at me and bust out laughing. His actual words "Did you just spell Greg to me?"

Those of you who are from Phoenix will get that story....I haven't had to spell my name since then. It's so nice!

[Sage of Sagle]

And this is something that people who have NOT lived in areas like Phoenix or SoCal just really can't wrap their brains around the frustration of what has become a massive wave of Reconquista-oriented cultural attack and attitudes.
Reconquista (Mexico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

It's not about race, or the existing legal immigrants who have assilimated into the "melting pot". That is why it's my view (as moderator) that people can choose to remove themselves from that environment without by default being subjected to calls of "racist". This is why SPECIFIC questions about this issue's impact on Idaho are relevant (on both sides) but broader discussion of immigration doesn't belong in the state forum.

But as a quick note to those wishing to discuss the issue's impact here...if you haven't LIVED in both places, please refrain from commenting, as your personal experiences are not then relevant or helpful in this matter. Sort of like how me interjecting my $.02 into a discussion about Cubans in Miami really would be a bit silly since I've never been there and "walked in their shoes".