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I hate my manicurist talkin to her co-workers on their own language
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Anonymous
Well, it doesn't make sense for everyone to come up with their own particular rules of etiquette. It is generally considered rude to speak a language in front of someone else who doesn't understand the language. Good for you for being big enough to not care that they are obviously talking about you (I'm being serious) but that doesn't make their behavior any less rude. |
Anonymous
you must be her one lone BFF. did you steal the bouquet? |
Anonymous
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I hate to burst OP's bubble, but I happen to speak Vietnamese (don't look Vietnamese so the nail ladies don't suspect that I understand them) and I can tell everyone for a fact, that the ladies do NOT talk about you. Their conversations are mostly very mundane...what their kids are doing, what they are having for dinner, when their breaks are, how much their backs hurt, etc. etc. Mostly, their English is poor, and they are shy women who are more comfortable speaking to each other than their customers. The customers who DO speak to them (most people, including me, choose to zone and read a magazine), they try the best they can to hold a conversation. When I do admit that I speak Vietnamese, they are all dying to talk to me and ask me all sorts of questions about myself. While extremely friendly, I choose ignorance most of the time as the hour I get a pedi is the only hour in my life that I get to zone to myself most of the time.
I personally think that nails is a horrible job, but it's the only one that is easy and readily available to them (their mother's cousin can get them a job when they come over etc etc). Don't be such self centered bitches ladies. It's really not all about you and most people couldn't care less to talk about you. |
Anonymous
No, I wasn't invited.  But I thought she handled all the attacks against her with charm and wit and I thoroughly enjoyed that entire thread. Your approach is heavy-handed and mean spirited compared to hers. You could learn a few things from Sad Bride, IMO.
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Anonymous
| I think I've seen the you must be a foreigner stuff by immigrants when dealing with others. Do they do that to people because it happens to them? Kind of like when foreigners who speak with accents try to correct the pronunciation of words by native English speakers. |
Anonymous
Its not big of me...who cares? What is it to you what they talk about? Are you really trying to be their best friend? Its considered rude to speak in another language in front of someone when you are at a social gathering, NOT at a nail salon. Two very different things. If you're so concerned, go learn Vietnamese. Or maybe you shouldn't speak in front of them if they don't really speak English. |
Anonymous
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So if someone has recently arrived here from Vietnam, and she does not yet speak English, is she supposed to remain silent until she learns? If her co-workers know some English and speak it for your pleasure, is it rude to her to speak a language that she doesn't know in front of her? Or is she less entitled to some kind of manners than you.
English is not the official language of the U.S. If you don't like the sound of Vietnamese, don't get your nails done in an establishment staffed by Vietnamese speakers. The market has spoken, and indicated that many people are happy to have a high-quality, affordable pedicure done by a non-English speaker. You don't like it. Don't buy it. |
Anonymous
What's considered rude varies among cultures. Also, the ladies may not realize that some people find their behavior rude. Maybe they haven't experienced being in a place where foreigners speaking their own language chatted amongst themselves, ie being at a salon staffed by English speakers speaking in English in Vietnam. |
Anonymous
| I don't care what language they speak because I've never had a pedicure in my life; my comment was that it is rude to speak in a language in front of someone who doesn't speak it. People do rude things all the time; go for it if it suits you but it's still rude. And I imagine it's rude in any culture the world over, because it's human nature that excluding someone else is a subtle form of aggression, something not done by nice people. |
Anonymous
| Its also rude to eavesdrop/butt in on other's conversations. Why do you need to be a part of it? |
Anonymous
How could I eavesdrop if I don't speak the language? |
Anonymous
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Bottom line is you get what you pay for. If you've paid $20 for a pedicure chances are you were asked within 10 seconds of walking in the door to pick a color, had your feet in a tub that was only rinsed with Fantastic or 409, had a stone used on your heels that was just rinsed off not brand new, had re-used toe separators stuck between your toes and charged extra for an ugly orchid painted on your big toe chance are you're going to hear another language spoken between the ladies giving the service. Go to a real spa for spa treatment.
I'm glad when they talk to each other because I really don't feel like talking to anyone. |
Anonymous
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OP, if you were there with a friend or a group of friends would you consider it rude to speak to your friend/s in English or (insert your native tongue) in the presence of the nail tech and her companions who do not seak English or your native tongue and would not understand you? Just curious?
Alternatively if you were in a forien country would you not speak to your travel companions in your language so as not to risk offending the locals who may not understand you? I think there is a big difference carrying on in a different language in a social gathering than in a setting such as the one you describe. |
Anonymous
Not OP .... but I really don't care what language you speak just understand and speak enough English to give me what I'm asking and paying for. |
Anonymous
For the love of god I hope you're kidding? I bet your feet look like you kick coconuts for a living. |