Have you ever met someone like this?

[Lost-in-FL]

I am growing very frustrated with a coworker. The thing that bothers me is that she has this nasty attitude about almost everything Latin (but food of course) and she is South American. I caught her saying derogatory comments about the country I was born which I quickly responded.

Even though she speaks Spanish fluently, at times she simply refuses to translate for others (we work in a hospital and it is IMPERATIVE to get patient information). When she is asked to translate she states that she doesn't speak Spanish and of course they have to get my help (which I don't mind at all). Not only this but I do notice that she treats Hispanic Americans differently. The irony is that she is comfortable speaking to me in Spanish! What's funny is that she "swears" she doesn't have an spanish accent when communicating in English so many of my Anglo friends make fun of her. Of course, she doesn't know this.

I think I understand why she is like that but still, that is not a license to be so insensitive. This is kind of like been poor all of your life, you marry a rich guy/girl or get the lottery and suddenly you forget where you are from. Another thing is that when she goes to visit her parents she talks about it like if she is going to a third world country!!! I swear!!! Why there is people like this? Do you know of someone like this?

[Xipe Totec]

1. Some people are embarrassed by their heritage

There's no telling what environment she grew up in.

That's not an excuse, just a fact.

Many Latin American actors like Anthony Quinn hid their heritage at some point in their lives because it was limiting to their career.

Nevertheless, where I in your position, she would already know to keep her distance from me...

En otras palabras, salúdamela de mi parte, y dile que ya sabe lo que le deseo.

[Lost-in-FL]

2. LOL!!!

:rofl:

[msedano]

3. i'm another one almost the same...

i totally deny i am h*span*c. in fact, where i come from, them's fightin' words. me dicen chicano. me dicen mexican. aunque me dicen mexican american, con o sin hyphen, pero no me dices h*span*c. call me latino, latin, brown, but not that other word.

since the vata is comfortable in spanish with you, why not explore the issue of her behavior? maybe there's a rational reason. for instance, in califas there used to be an expectation that mexicans or latinos would automatically translate stuff for the office,for the boss. there was no extra compensation. but certain anglos who knew computers (in the old days before the proliferation of silicon) would get a sweetener in the paycheck owing to being uniquely qualified. some public agencies now offer extra compensation for a person expected to provide bilingual service. (and monolinguals in english bitch and moan about it; ironic que no?)

mau mau her. when she esays esomething to you in inglish, ask her to repeat it, echo the accented word, force her to confront her dialect. perhaps that truth will set her free.

self-hating ethnics have long populated our culture. if you enjoy reading, have a look at richard vasquez' chicano. one of the early chicano novels. there's a scene where the immigrant goes to an office to get a business loan and the respected loan officer is an american of mexican descent who proceeds to lord it over the pendejo-on-account-of-being-first-generation. you might recognize your coworker in the scene.

i recommend empathy or pity. a lot of gente will call her a vendida. i call such a person vencida.

http://labloga.blogspot.com/2005/11/review-richard-vasquez-chicano.html

[NV1962]

4. Well... About getting "patient information" through a volunteer

Just a few comments. From what you describe, her attitude does certainly appear tinted by bigotry.

However: I'd like to point out that -- leaving her behavior and attitude completely aside -- there's absolutely NO reason to have an inherent assumption or even expectation that people who happen to be bilingual should act as an interpreter. And if I may, I'd like to make that case even stronger in a medical environment.

Maybe that's a separate issue; if there's interest, I'm more than willing to open up a separate topic on that.

First, I see you refer to "translate" - translations deal with written texts, whereas interpretation deals with speech.

Second, being able to speak and understand two languages is by no means whatsoever indicative of the required level of proficiency of an interpreter. And that is all the more true in specialized environments. Very often, after residing for a long period of time abroad, one develops or acquires "professional" terminology which have never developed in the native language. In the medical field as one such clear example, it's a far cry from the familiar and trivial range of terminology used at home with the terminology used in a hospital. To somehow assume that someone working at a specialized (e.g. hospital) environment whose native language is not English is able to properly "translate" specialized English terminology into the other language and vice versa is not only wrong, it's flat-out dangerous. The risk of (and therefore, the responsibility for) an incorrect diagnosis should NEVER be placed on people who aren't qualified (trained), period. I have personally intervened several times in cases where a well-meaning "volunteer" was making critical mistakes while attempting to "translate" medical terminology into "plain language". If a person doesn't understand the "native" equivalents of specialized terminology, he/she should say so - and it's up to the medical professional to explain it otherwise.

Third, interpretation skills come with practice, practice, practice, and very very rarely are a result of "innate" talents; you have to work hard at keeping that ability up to speed to cope with real-life situations. And even though cultural competence can be a major plus in a medical environment, it takes experience (and in most cases additional training) to competently and adequately navigate around or away from such sources of miscommunication.

Fourth, no matter to which field of interpretation you refer (administrative, legal, medical, conferencing, etc.) interpretation when it's done correctly is literal - without adding, subtracting or modifying either the meaning or the register of speech. Awfully often, makeshift interpreters use summary mode, and add their perspective (especially noticeable when you hear "He/she said that ..."). In a medical environment, such typical deficiencies are all the more to be avoided.

Fifth, and this is probably most to the point here, I run a lot into situations where I find out that the burden of "makeshift translation" (i.e., interpretation) is placed without much thinking by management on anyone who is bilingual; never mind the possible (and probable) imbalance in vocabulary between the languages for that person, the questionably presumed skills (why should one be expected to be able to magically interpret just because one speaks another language?), etcetera. I find that incredibly arrogant, irresponsible, and insensitive of management when it condones, if not routinely resorts to its employees to evade its own responsibilities derived from hiring employees with deficient "local" language skills in the first place.

Now, I realize full well that it's nonsense to think in terms of getting a qualified interpreter to act in trivial conversation type interaction. But in the case of a hospital, this knee-jerk shifting responsibility for communicating appropriately (i.e., similar as to native speakers) to employees presents a serious threat to the well-being of patients and their loved ones. It's one thing to explain where the cafetaria is, or to ask for a phone number or address information; another is to foist the responsibilities of an interpreter on someone to interact with professional (medical) implications at stake.

Yes, I'm a professional interpreter and translator. And yes, I understand that availability of qualified interpreters can be hard to get by. But there are not only legal, but especially moral reasons to make a very clear-cut distinction between cases where a "makeshift" interpreter is perfectly acceptable, and interaction with patients in a medically significant manner, such as for example obtaining nothing less than patient information, which typically involves questions about medical history.

Again, I'm not referring to "simple" interactions. But I'd smack hospital management, instead of a co-worker (no matter that person's attitude) for not acting upon its own liabilities.

[Lost-in-FL]

5. We interact directly with patients

We have professional interpreters in the hospital but they only deal with the "administrative or clerical" side of patient care. In our line of work it is expected from us to educate patients about procedures and we are both able to explain this to our patients in English and Spanish. She chooses not to do this cause she is a ____________. It is true, she doesn't have to interpret for anyone if she doesn't want to but is is sad when she tells someone right in front of me that she does not speak the language just because she doesn't want to look HISPANA and rather be seen as a Caucasian. I know damn well she can.

[NV1962]

6. Sad, but she's not the only one.

I've run into several people like that. It's hard to tell why people put up such a visceral and defensive ring, though. And yeah, some people simply are asshats.

(A veces ayuda decir en voz alta, para que lo oiga, que es incapaz de actuar de intérprete - a ver si se le acaba la tontería por vergüenza torera... ;-) )

[EFerrari]

7. The hegemony of the oppressed?

I don't know if this theory holds water but remember it made a big impression on my mom when she read it. As I understand it, a people who has been oppressed has a tendency to turn around and impose the same forms of oppression on itself and on others. (It always sounded like "kick the dog" to me but then, it was someone's dissertation which obviously couldn't be called "Kick the Dog". lol)

Well, I was going to link to the book at Amazon but it doesn't come up for me.

[bliss_eternal]

18. Definitely...!

I've seen this w/in my culture as well. But I believe it's universal, it can also be applied to genders, classes, etc. Many factions of oppressed people take on the characteristics of their oppressors, and turn it on themselves or those w/in their group.

[Popol Vuh]

8. Unfortunatly self loathing is somewhat common

for our people. Its the deluge of European advertisement and an absence of indigenous advertisement. They have subconsciously been taught by TV, magazines, politicians and society in general that white is beautiful and intelligent and the desirable trait, and brown is not. Brown is poor, unattractive, unintelligent and less desirable. I've heard co-workers of mine before say: "I am not Mexican, I am Spanish".

This sort of self-loathing from some of our people makes me angry. Not so much at them than at the cause. I think they need to be taught our amazing history and accomplishments. I believe any indigenous American who learns our rich history will never deny their heritage and claim they're something else.

Well, that's my two cents...

[Cleita]

9. My mother used to tell anglos (strangers who asked

about her accent)that she was Italian. She didn't want to bother with what the conversation would lead to, mainly hints that we were living on the wrong side of town. Otherwise in the neighborhood and at church, never hid that we were Latinas but we didn't advertise it either considering that we lived in an all white non-Latino neighborhood while in the states; our relatives (her in laws) were anglo and only when I went to high school were there latinos in my classes. Our neighbors and friends of course knew that we weren't wasps.

I find that a lot of latinos who pass don't want to admit it. In my mothers case she got upset with being considered Mexican. It's not that she had anything against Mexicans and had Mexican friends, it's just that she was proud of her culture that was different.

People used to try to get her to eat "Spanish" food, which was of course Mexican food and in Chile although we eat corn and beans it's prepared differently and never spiced with chili, which is always put on the side. She didn't like Mexican food, but I on the other hand took to it like most Americans did with a special fondness for tacos and enchiladas.

I do know that when I had to go to work, since I didn't have a Spanish surname, people were surprised to find out that I was Latina. Of course I never mentioned it in an interview. I knew better. Friends of mine with Spanish surnames didn't get jobs in Beverly Hills like I did. However,once on the job I never hid it and was quite happy to translate if the occasion arose.

My mother was able get work at the UCLA Medical Center where people who were fluent in both English and Spanish were needed so she didn't need to say she was Italian anymore.

[EFerrari]

10. When my mother's neighbor wanted to insult her

he was stymied by knowing she wasn't from Mexico and by the fact that he had no knowledge of Latin America.

So, he called her a gypsy. :rofl:

[Swamp Rat]

12. Amo gitanas... soy un poco gitano... en mi corazón.

:D

Yo aprendí esta canción de una gitana (la canción es una Sevillana):

"Me casé con un enano"

Me casé con un enano, salerito
pa jartarme de reir.

(oh aí ese tio va aí)

Pa jartarme de reir,
le puse la cama en alto,
ole salerito y ole,
le puse la cama en alto, salerito,
y no se pudo subir.

Y eso sí que fue de veras,
que al bajarse de la cama,
ole salerito y ole,
que al bajarse de la cama, salerito
se cayó en la escupidera.

¡Olé!

:D

[EFerrari]

13. This is one of my favorite guitars:

[Swamp Rat]

14. I LOVE Django!

I have all his best stuff (w/Stephan Grapelli on violin). I just melt when I hear him play "Nuages." :loveya:

Btw, I have a graduate degree in classical guitar and played flamenco for a few years. I haven't played since Katrina and gave up practicing years ago... except for the other night when I decided to see if I could still remember some Villa-Lobos chôros... porque eu amo música brasileira! My samba band (I also play percussion, in this group) broke up this year because many of the musicians cannot live in New Orleans any longer, as it is being gentrified very rapidly and the rent has quadrupled. x( I guess I will go back to playing solo guitar.

[EFerrari]

15. The intro to "Tea for Two" makes me cry. It's the most carelessly

beautiful riff I've ever heard.

The rent has quadrupled? :scared:

[Swamp Rat]

16. Tripled in most areas.

I know a few people who still pay lower rents, but this is rapidly disappearing... unless you live in a dangerous area (60-80% of the city?). Maybe if one can find a liveable place in Mid-City, or in the Jefferson Parish suburbs of Metairie or Kenner (formally mostly white residents) the rent would be about twice what it used to be, or so I hear.

I just looked, but I couldn't find "Tea for Two" anywhere in my CD collection. :cry:

[EFerrari]

17. It's on the early DR recordings, vol 3 in a set of 5.

That collection is the only object Doug and I nearly fought over. We cut a deal, and split the cost of a second set so no one went unDjangoed.

[pingzing58]

11. For recent immigrants it is different than for Latinos who grew up here from 1910 forward.

I was born in the 50's and we were not allowed to speak
spanish in school.  We were punished for doing so even if we
were on the playground.  My parents did not want us to speak
spanish because they were afraid we would speak english with
an accent.  Now I know that it's not true.  Children pick up
languages in whatever accent they are taught.  As a South
Texan it hurts me to hear our children speak english with a
country hick accent.  Ouch!  I wish they would all speak with
a mid-western accent.  Anyway, we identify with the culture we
were born into.  And that's, Latino American.  Now, new
immigrants, I really believe, are still suffering from the
Class Society they were born into.  You know, Espanoles (pure
blood Spanish), Criollos (Spanish born in the New World),
Mestizos (Spanish/Indian), Mulatos (Spanish/Negro), Indigenas
(American Indian), Negros (African Slaves), etc., each caste
looked down on the other.  These feelings of "I am born
into a higher class than you" that I see in Latin
Americans is very much still part of their culture.  It's
changed a lot since I was a kid, but it explains for me the
bigotry among castes.  

[bliss_eternal]

19. Yes I have.

(sorry I am so late to this). I responded up-threadigher to sfexpat's post as that resonated with me. But, yes absolutely and my cultural heritage is different, but I've seen the phenomena within it as well, sadly.

:hug: