The other day on Facebook I posted a link to the original 1973 Jesus Christ Superstar, sung in English and with subtitles in Spanish.   I made my Facebook post after reading at  This is Alabama, We Speak English.  Tim James is betting his election that Alabama voters prefer what he calls “common sense” to “political correctness.” The Republican gubernatorial candidate is running a provocative ad arguing that Alabama’s driver’s license exam should be given only in English. “This is Alabama; we speak English,” James says. “If you want to live here, learn it.”

I’d written on Facebook “OMG how totally ignorant! and not just becuz Spanish to so easy to learn and English is not. If I live among people who speak another language and want to understand and be understood, I learn it. The U.S. is the only county that speaks only one language. Just saying.”

I remember several years ago being at a conference in Orlando, and my friend Suzie and I went to lunch at Red Lobster.  She went ballistic that an oriental family was speaking among themselves in their native language at the next table.  “This is America, speak English,” she said loudly enough for them to hear.

I had to laugh, since we were in the middle of Theme Park Central near Universal in Orlando, known for tourists from around the world, and she wanted everyone to speak English.  Even among themselves in their private conversations.  Talk about setting yourself up for failure!

I figure this is Florida.  We’re a tourist state.  International dollars fill our coffers.  Growing up in Miami, which is very cosmopolitan, I thought people everywhere spoke English and Spanish. I went to public school and Spanish lessons were piped in over the intercom every day in elementary school.  Half the people I knew were Cuban, as was my neighborhood.  Working for law offices, many of our clients were international, and spoke Spanish and French.  Speaking the language was not just a bonus, it was necessary to understand and be understood, period.  It helped that it is very easy to learn.

I always remind myself, what is my objective here?  If my objective was, as in the Alabama case, to give a driver’s license exam to make sure drivers were qualified, I’d give that exam in the language understood by the majority of the drivers –> in English and in Spanish.

It doesn’t take much effort to get along with each other.  The “foreigners” are not here to take something away from us, we can enjoy what they bring to the mix.

If we can lighten up and get over ourselves, that is.