Doggy-Dog World

I found in our Arizona Republic paper this morning an ad for Walmart’s food section, Supermercado de Walmart. Supermercado de Walmart. Just that, not even an English translation. Supermarket of Walmart. And it angered me again, just as it does whenever I go to vote and the ballots are in both English and Spanish, or when I see almost all official forms from the state in both languages. I even noticed not long ago a large sign outside one of our elementary schools in the area, one side announcing upcoming activities in English, the other side announcing them in Spanish. Granted, Arizona has a large Hispanic population, some second or third generation, many first generation, both legal and illegal. Since English is our official language, why must we cater to those who have come to live here (both legally and illegally) by allowing them not to have to learn our language? I can’t see Mexico doing the same for English-speaking transplants to their country. It was never done for those millions of people who emigrated to this country in the past. If people wish to live in this country, they should be expected to learn English and to speak it and to write it and to understand it, not the other way around.