Gimme Two Cheesesteaks

That's not so hard to say is it?

Surely by now, you've heard about this restaurant in Philly that the owner, Joey Vento, has a sign that reads: "This is AMERICA ... WHEN ORDERING SPEAK ENGLISH." In fact, he's had it up for over 6 months now.

I wasn't going to weigh in on this, but now I must. A story that ran in the Philadelphia Inquirer caught my attention and I can't just let it go. In fact, it's making me crazy...

Geno's Steaks was served with a complaint from the Commission on Human Relations that states:

"The restaurant is in violation of two sections of the city's antidiscrimination laws: denying service to someone because of his or her national origin, and having printed material making certain groups of people feel their patronage is unwelcome."

Did you read that carefully? "Denying service to someone because of his or her national origin." That's the charge, "denying service to someone."

Now, this is what makes me nuts. Later in the story you read this quote from the Rev. James S. Allen Sr., The city's Commission on Human relations chairman:

"The issue is not whether anyone has been denied service, but that such a sign discourages people from coming asking for service."

So, according to this Commission on Human Relations, the issue is not if Joey committed actual discrimination by denying service to someone.

-But Goose, the charge is "Denying service to someone."-

Yes, I know. But according to the Rev. James S. Allen Sr., denying someone service isn't the issue, even though it is the charge.

You see where I'm going with this? This may be the first time in history that a complaint has been filed where the accuser is admitting the accused never committed the offense. In fact, the accuser thinks committing the offense isn't even the issue.

Apparently, the issue is a guy trying to discourage potential money spending customers from entering his restaurant. The nerve of some people huh?

Now, is it me, or is that about the silliest damn thing you've ever heard?

Ok, Joey puts up a sign that says, "Speak English When Ordering" and he is getting complaints from Commission on Human Relations because he is supposedly discouraging people from purchasing his sandwiches, because you know discouraging potential customers is always a good idea... (note sarcasm)

Let me ask you this: Does New York Times put out a Spanish version of their paper? How about a Chinese version of their paper? There are tons of Chinese people living in New York City. What about an Italian version? How about a German version? Oh wait, we mustn't leave out the poor Native Americans. Do they put out a Sioux version of the New York Times? How about a Cherokee? Surely they put out a Cherokee version of their paper. No? Hmm...

So it would seem, the New York Times is "discouraging" non-English speaking people in this country from buying their paper. Now, why would they do that? Are they being accused of Discrimination?

No? Why not? Because English is the language we speak in the United States. So here's an idea. When you're in a country and you want to stay, it's probably a pretty good idea to learn the language that ALL OF THE FREAKING PAPERS ARE PRINTED IN!

Don't ya think?

Joey is just trying to encourage people to learn English for crying out loud. Leave him alone.