TRAVELING OVERSEAS?

I just spent the weekend in Miami. I have the sunburn to prove it. Miami is a fun city. There is so much to see and do. South Beach is like a magnet for tourists. I love the fact that just about every place you pass has cut their prices by 50 percent. We walked until we came to a place that didn't offer a 50 percent discount. We all figured that meant their prices were more realistic.

I was struck by this city the first time I visited it in the late 1990's. But there was something that surprised me. We were at a Marlins game watching them play the Devil Rays. It was the first time I had ever heard an announcer introducing the players in both English and Spanish. This time around I wondered if the announcer felt it was a waste of time to do the introductions in English. Everywhere I turned all I heard was Spanish. I wondered what Joe Vento would do if he was doing business in Miami.

Joe of course it the guy in Philly who made headlines a few years back when he pasted up a sign that read, "This is America. When ordering speak in English." Joe is to Philly Cheese steaks what Laurence Olivier was to acting. In 2006 he was quoted as saying, "Your loyalty should be to America and America only," Vento said. Of course he gave credit where credit was do. "All I did was quote Theodore Roosevelt, 1907."

In 1907 immigration spiked to a record 1,285,000, and President Roosevelt said: "There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room but for one language here and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality; we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people." I'm guessing Teddy would be troubled by what you see in Miami these days.

I was in a long line at the Airport trying to buy some food before boarding my flight heading back to Washington. Two women in front of me were purchasing a salad, some water, and a sandwich. The cashier was new to the job. He didn't get it right. So he called over another guy to help him. Not one word of English was uttered. All the while the two women customers kept talking in English. Finally the cashier handed over about 4 dollars and some change to the women. That's when it happened. The one woman looked at the other and the fight began. The woman argued, not in English, that would have been pointless. She had a command of Spanish. Before long the guy who was helping the new cashier went in search of the manager. She arrived, again no English. It was a heated dispute. Finally the manager pulled out her cell phone. It had a calculator. In the end the customers were right. Instead of getting four dollars back and some change, it was now 10 dollars and some change. I was a little nervous, I never developed a real command of Spanish. I tapped the woman on the arm and asked, "Do you think you can stick around just in case I need you?"