I am so appalled by the commercial I just saw I had to rant. I’m busy with my cleaning chores and have HGTV on in the background — an eco show about how to make every room in your house eco-friendly (when they make it wallet-friendly I’ll consider it more seriously).
Suddenly, I hear a commercial I don’t understand. It’s in Spanish. Entirely in Spanish. No subtitles. Clearly intended only for people who speak Spanish watching HGTV. And clearly not for me or any other American who doesn’t. Hell, they could have been saying, “Go out and kill your neighbor” and I would have been none the wiser.
Did I cross the border? Did they suddenly change the language without telling me? Am I in that parallel universe you hear tell about?
The commercial was from boostup.org — I don’t have anything against them (apparently they have something to do with encouraging teens to graduate) — just their commercial, and maybe its premise. If a high school-age teen can’t speak English well enough to understand a commercial, what are they doing in high school in the U.S.? And, ummm, if that’s the case, maybe they shouldn’t graduate?
How long will it be before “Press 1 for English” will also apply to my television?
CASSIUS Did Cicero say any thing
CASCA Ay, he spoke Greek.
CASSIUS To what effect?
CASCA Nay, an I tell you that, Ill ne’er look you
i’ the face again: but those that
understood him smiled at one another
and shook their heads; but, for mine
own part, it was Greek to me.
~ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
Writing by Ear 
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