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Whoa! That's more than shameful... that's downright unacceptable behavior on the part of the paramedic. I don't care what kind of chip he has on his shoulder regarding language, but his JOB is to save lives. He should DO HIS JOB and leave the politics for another time, place, and person. My God, the world can be cruel.
Whoa! That's more than shameful... that's downright unacceptable behavior on the part of the paramedic. I don't care what kind of chip he has on his shoulder regarding language, but his JOB is to save lives. He should DO HIS JOB and leave the politics for another time, place, and person. My God, the world can be cruel.
He *did* do his job, didn't he? He took care of the girl. His job is to take care of people, not to chat in English.
Also, this guy may indeed turn out to be a jerk but I do find all of assumptions here that the guy actually does know English to be somewhat amusing. Seems you all have privileged access to the inside of his brain, or at least his curriculum vitae or the results of any language testing he might have taken.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
He *did* do his job, didn't he? He took care of the girl. His job is to take care of people, not to chat in English.
Also, this guy may indeed turn out to be a jerk but I do find all of assumptions here that the guy actually does know English to be somewhat amusing. Seems you all have privileged access to the inside of his brain, or at least his curriculum vitae or the results of any language testing he might have taken.
The father didn't want to CHAT! He said that he told the guy that he'd be more comfortable conversing -- about his daughter's seizure! -- in English, so that he could understand everything. They weren't talking about hockey; it was about his terribly ill daughter.
And how the paramedic said it -- and clearly he understood English so that he could respond -- was that no, he would be speaking in French.
If the paramedic didn't know how to speak English, he could have said that (in French, of course), but that's not what he said.
It seems more like a power struggle than anything, which is exactly not what a parent needs when their child is hurting.
He *did* do his job, didn't he? He took care of the girl. His job is to take care of people, not to chat in English.
Also, this guy may indeed turn out to be a jerk but I do find all of assumptions here that the guy actually does know English to be somewhat amusing. Seems you all have privileged access to the inside of his brain, or at least his curriculum vitae or the results of any language testing he might have taken.
I typically agree with you...but I cannot with this. I'm pretty confident that if the shoe was on the other foot, a primarily English speaking paramedic in Ontario who did speak French, would not refuse to speak it to a primarily French speaking person..why? Because we don't have these language/political issues here in Ontario for the most part.
As for the actual OP..i'm also confident that if I heard individuals speaking in any language even French on a street at night I wouldn't criticize them for doing so..in fact I wouldn't give a f%^&. You cannot excuse the guy in the OP's behavior by saying he was drunk either as we tend to reveal our true feelings when we are drunk.
And how the paramedic said it -- and clearly he understood English so that he could respond -- was that no, he would be speaking in French.
If the paramedic didn't know how to speak English, he could have said that (in French, of course), but that's not what he said.
So now we are down to splitting hairs over choice of words. In a he-said, she-said scenario where we can't say for sure what was actually said.
Anyway, as for him knowing English simply because of what he responded to, there are about 10 languages out there where if someone asked me in them "Could you speak to me in (language X)?", I would probably understand that, but I still couldn't speak that language to save my life.
Also, the father's request that the paramedic speak English was because he wanted to fully understand the medical vocabulary. Is it seriously being suggested here that all paramedics in the region where this happened (90% francophone and like 8% anglophone) be required to know their entire medical vocabulary in English in addition to French just for people like Mr. Bergeron?
I am a pretty bilingual guy, and am probably more bilingual than 95% of the francophones who serve Quebec anglos in English every single day. Including paramedics, doctors, police, etc.
And yet there is still quite a bit of stuff I don't know in English and know only in French.
Bottom line - this story is being way overblown with righteous indignation from the usual suspects.
I typically agree with you...but I cannot with this. I'm pretty confident that if the shoe was on the other foot, a primarily English speaking paramedic in Ontario who did speak French, would not refuse to speak it to a primarily French speaking person..why? .
I ask again - how do you guys know for sure that the paramedic in this case spoke English?
Quote:
Originally Posted by darrensmooth
Because we don't have these language/political issues here in Ontario for the most part.
That's because the number of Franco-Ontarians who would expect someone who was obviously anglophone to switch languages for them in this type of situation is infinitesimal. 99.9% of them would go with the flow in English.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
So now we are down to splitting hairs over choice of words. In a he-said, she-said scenario where we can't say for sure what was actually said.
Anyway, as for him knowing English simply because of what he responded to, there are about 10 languages out there where if someone asked me in them "Could you speak to me in (language X)?", I would probably understand that, but I still couldn't speak that language to save my life.
Also, the father's request that the paramedic speak English was because he wanted to fully understand the medical vocabulary. Is it seriously being suggested here that all paramedics in the region where this happened (90% francophone and like 8% anglophone) be required to know their entire medical vocabulary in English in addition to French just for people like Mr. Bergeron?
I am a pretty bilingual guy, and am probably more bilingual than 95% of the francophones who serve Quebec anglos in English every single day. Including paramedics, doctors, police, etc.
And yet there is still quite a bit of stuff I don't know in English and know only in French.
Bottom line - this story is being way overblown with righteous indignation from the usual suspects.
Never mind. As with the father's situation, this discussion between you and I will always boil down to a power struggle between English and French. That's fine. I don't live there anymore and don't have to deal with it.
MY bottom line: A child is unconscious. The parent is freaking out. If I were the EMT, I'd use all sorts of sign language and anything that I could to comfort the parent while I was taking care of the child.
Never mind. As with the father's situation, this discussion between you and I will always boil down to a power struggle between English and French. That's fine. I don't live there anymore and don't have to deal with it.
MY bottom line: A child is unconscious. The parent is freaking out. If I were the EMT, I'd use all sorts of sign language and anything that I could to comfort the parent while I was taking care of the child.
That's exactly what it is - it is a power struggle. The parents are using their child's temporary illness in order to win points for the anglo side in the Great Quebec Language Debate.
No harm happened to the child and there is no evidence that harm would have happened to the child even if the entire family had spoken only Chinese and that the paramedics would have had to use sign language or whatever. (As happens all the time all over the world - even to anglos sometimes!)
What is most upsetting to them and their supporters is the (alleged) inability to live in English from A to Z in Quebec and not be inconvenienced by the fact that you share this geographic space with several million people who speak French.
It's not really about the little girl. Never really was.
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