Soap Box

I know that I haven't been great about blogging lately. In all honesty, I have been fairly stressed - I have the Oral portion of my Thoracic boards coming up and I have been busier than usual at work. Greater than normal stress tends to make me grumpy. I recognize this about myself, and try to minimize the collateral damage by sequestering myself. The less external interactions, the less I have to apologize for when my stress levels recede. Boards are over June 11th, so hopefully this latest high tide is almost over.

However, I can't help but to vent a little. I have tried to keep an open mind about life in Miami. My Spanish grows daily and I am truly happy about it. However, I have my limits. I walked into ABP this morning to grab a cup of coffee. As usual, the lady behind the counter greeted me in Spanish and asked what I wanted. Per norm, I responded in English. Usually this is where the person behind the counter fluidly switches to English, and we have no issues. Not so much this morning.

Turns out the person working behind the counter spoke barely enough English to tell me that she couldn't speak English. Seriously? If you choose to live in this country without learning the language - your decision. Who am I to judge? HOWEVER, if you plan to work in this country at a job that requires you to interact with the public (i.e. Americans living in the country of their birth), I don't think it is too much to ask that you speak the language. I'm not asking for Shakespeare, but conversational English should be a prerequisite. If I moved to Germany, I would attempt to learn German before I went to work. Perhaps that is just me. Okay, I will step off my soap box now and go back to studying. Less grumpy me will hopefully show her face again soon.