Saturday, March 04, 2006

"English-Speaking American" Told to Tone it Down

A Denver public works employee is told he cannot wear a "US Border Patrol" hat to work. He's also told to cover or remove the "English-Speaking American" sign, and the American flag, from the trailer on his truck.

3 comments:

mythago said...

They're concerned that people will associate his message with his employer.

Wearing the hat to work is moronic--dude, you don't WORK for the Border Patrol--but by all means, let him have his bumper sticker. People need to know which lawn service not to call.

Robert said...

Sorry, mythago, I'm confused. You have to work for an organization to sports its cap? I have a "USS Ronald Reagan" cap, given to me by my uncle; it's a cherished possession. Do I have to enlist in the Navy before I can wear it? I've got a "Cleveland Cotton Gin" cap, from a cousin, under similar circumstances. Needless to say, I've never as much as touched a cotton plant.

As for the bumper sticker - I'm not sure why knowing that a business owner spoke English would be a disincentive to call them. Mutual communication is often a necessity in order to do business.

mythago said...

Robert, if you are a government employee, and wear the cap of another government agency while on duty, you might very well be misrepresenting yourself. Take out the English-language issue and have the guy wearing an "FBI" cap and it might make more sense.

I'm not sure why knowing that a business owner spoke English would be a disincentive to call them.

He doesn't speak English all that well, actually. His bumper sticker is ungrammatical and uses the painful double exclamation point.

But thank you for the feeble attempt to pretend all the bumper sticker said was "English speaker".