I never realized how difficult the English language was until I met a friend of mine’s family, who spoke primarily Spanish. I tried my best to communicate with them, using my 4 years of high school spanish, and they also tried. I was confused about why they didn’t like to speak English, until I realized how much I did not like to speak Spanish. Learning another language is hard enough, but then having to speak it to people who have known it their entire life is nerve racking. In the article, “ Mother’s Tongue” by Amy Tan, she talks about speaking on the phone for her mother, which is a common thing for families whose primary language is not English. I remember my friend, whose family spoke primarily Spanish, usually had to call in and pick up his mother’s prescriptions. How he talked to his family was completely different from how he talked to friends, which was different from how he talked professionally. I never really thought about the language I use around different people, but it certainly does change.
While reading the article “Just Walk On By ” by Brent Staples, I was able to connect his experiences of “people being threatened by him” to things I have seen in person. I think a lot of people hold inner prejudices they don’t realize. For example, whenever I go to the grocery store late at night, people will use the other exit just to not have to walk by a homeless man who is usually there. Also, in IV there is a lady who is in a wheelchair, who may be a little crazy, and she hands out pieces of paper that have “all her writing”. Many people will just ignore her and walk on the other side of the street. I have to admit I usually do too, but I figured out if you take the paper and thank her, she’ll usually leave you alone. It is sad that we live in a world where walking alone at night causes us to fear people who are completely normal, but may have a different skin tone, class status or even disability.
01/14/2020
thewriting1.poetry.blog 