Posted on 10/26/2009 9:16:36 AM PDT by STE=Q
TAOS, N.M. – Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.
The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Frankly, I would not like to be told to change my name.(read story)
On the other hand, Larry was just trying to revive a failed business which would, or should, benefit all concerned?
What think you?
STE=Q
Oh, looks like someone beat me to the punch with this story!
Gotta be fast around here!
STE=Q
Some people have no business being in... ‘er business.
Maybe being a tough talking marine didn’t encourage business.
Let them keep their names & their failed business.
Whenever I reach tech support or customer service in India, I invariably speak with Skip, Mark, Jennifer or Stephanie. Good Hindu names.
Exactly right! I’ve seen the same thing - cracks me up!!
If the answer to both questions is “yes”,then the new owner/manager could reasonably *request* that they change their names with an explanation of why they're being asked to do so.Any employee who's insulted by the request is free to leave.
In that part of New Mexico, the locals are decidedly unfriendly to illegals.
Expecting his employees to speak English in his presence is reasonable.
Changing their names? That seems rather silly. Visitors to Taos, NM, expect to find people with Spanish names.
Hola, my nombre is Scissors Sleeem.
If you've ever been on the phone with someone who reels off a long, many-parted full Spanish name, complete with the rolling "R's," you're likely to understand his position. [N.b., I would make a special exception for "Jesus" [;^).)
And this is your partner, Razor Roughneck.
The gentleman in the article would probably want you to introduce yourself as “Tim.”
Answer to your first question is that the majority of hispanics in Taos have roots there going back 400 years. So yes, they more than likely are here just as legally as you are.
Answer to your second question. This moron moved to Northern New Mexico, he is the outsider here. Demanding that employees change their names to sound more anglo is not only insulting, it’s ignorant. This jackass should have done some research on the area before he moved there.
New Mexico is a very unique place. The blending of Anglo, Spanish and Indian culture make it that way. We resent outsiders who come in and try to change it. I say we because I was born and raised in Northern New Mexico and I am also one of those people who can trace their roots 400 years to the original Spanish settlers.
Yup, ‘kay. Jose Santos, your name is now Sven Johannssen.
This dude better hope his car doesn’t break down in Tierra Amarilla. ;)
I don't have a problem with his requiring employees to speak English in his presence. I draw the line at making them change their names. I'm sure folks coming to stay at the hotel couldn't give a rat's rear end if the lady who cleans there room is called 'Maria' instead of Mary, or the man at the desk is names 'Marcos' instead of Mark.
I;m sure his mug is plastered on every gas pump in town by now.
"All calculations based on experience elsewhere, fail in New Mexico." --Governor Lew Wallace, Territorial Governor of New Mexico from 1878 - 1881
Regardless, implementing such policies as a matter of employment is just bad business and is likely to bring legal action against him.
Larry is ultimately derived from a Roman or a Latin name. Hispanic names are also derived from latin as well. Looks like he should change his name to a good Anglo-Saxon one like Horsa or Hengist!
I visited there a few times and got the impression that the culture was unreconstructed 60’s dope smoking hippie.
The culture seemed more authentic out in Mora Co or Raton,
but that when I lived in Santa Fe (yuppie artiste central).
"He should have done some advance work about the history of the place. Most folks come there precisely BECAUSE of that history, which is not Mexican, by the way, it's European Spanish or Native American. He could have instituted some of his changes, without pushing the gringo attitude."
I agree, he obviously did no, or poor research, at best.
STE=Q
“I say we because I was born and raised in Northern New Mexico and I am also one of those people who can trace their roots 400 years to the original Spanish settlers.”
We may be cousins! My family is from Belen south of Albuequerque. I live in California now, but my heart lives near the Isleta Pueblo where my Abuela taught gradeschool many decades ago. We visit often.
You are brave to explain our cultural heritage. I find most Americans don’t understand their own American history and lump New Mexicans in with Mexicans even though we speak a dialect and are not culturally the same.
Transplants to New Mexico should understand that we are just as American as anybody else. My New Mexican uncle suffered through the Bataan Death March and my cousins and uncles have proudly served this country in all our wars (Korea, WWII, Vietnam, Cold War, etc.) since we entered the union. We’ve more than earned our place in this beloved United States and certainly don’t need anyone telling us what names we can call each other.
I've never noticed very many Spanish people here in Texas.
We have a ton of Mexicans but hardly any Spaniards.
I have also told my relatives in Indiana, that natives here have pictures of their kids in uniform at the cash register and those I now know and have befriended are some of the most patriotic and good people I have ever met.........I love this place.
My family is from Bernalillo. I go home as often as I can.
I love early Aug and Christmas in Bernalillo. Aug for the Fiesta de San Lorenzo. When I was a kid the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Posse would reenact The Entrada de Coronado the night before the Fiesta. They stopped doing it about ten years ago. Some friends and I have talked about bringing it back, maybe we can pull it off.
As for Christmas I only have 2 words: Tamales, and Posole!
In Taos proper you’re on the mark, outside of town it’s a different world.
Bless you and your kind words. To me, the place is unique amongst the 50-states, as you have discovered.
“Entrada de Coronado”
I’ll wear the Coronado costume, but will probably fall off the horse. For us, the celebration not to miss was the carrying of the Virgin to the Santuario de Chimayo.
“Tamales, and Posole!”
We eat them every year, my friend. My uncles send us the chilis from home. And don’t forget the sopapillas.... mmmm...sopapillas. I have yet to find them here in Calif.
To buy a $2,000,000 hotel property, he put down several hundred thousand.
IOW he has a lot of money at stake. And times are tough in the travel business.
Another buyer would have done smarter analysis of why previous owners failed with this hotel. Location? Prices? Amenities? Condition of rooms? Marketing?
I doubt the hotel failed because Martin pronounced his name “marteen.”
Apparently this guy thouight so, however.
Heh, I hadn’t seen your post before I made my comment. GMTA!
Too sadly true! I read an interesting book last year, A Voyage Long and Strange written by Tony Horwitz, a Columbia Univ. graduate of History, who only learned, long after he'd left school, that there had actually been Spanish explorers in the mainland US, through the Southeast from Florida, and up into the Midwest from Mexico, well before the settlers landed at Plymouth Rock!
I was flabbergasted that he, an Ivy League graduate, hadn't learned what I did in my S. Mississippi high school!! Was he not paying attention when they mentioned Ponce de Leon, Coronado, or the Spanish priests building their missions up the California coastline, or even the Viking villages in what are now the Maritime Provinces of Canada? Was that NOT taught in his high school? It certainly didn't say much for his History degree, if he'd never learned about those early explorers to the US, even in that vaunted institution of higher education.
“I was flabbergasted that he, an Ivy League graduate, hadn’t learned what I did in my S. Mississippi high school!!”
I think it’s because US history is taught from an eastern perspective. In your part of the world (Mississippi) you had Spanish and French influences, which the eastern states never had. Because the historical portrayal is from the easterners moving west perspective, this rich nuance is overlooked (with the exception of Cajuns/Arcadians getting a mention from time to time).
Then again, I could be full of it. All I know for sure is that I gave up trying to explain my New Mexican heritage to people a long time ago. Instead, I tell them to visit Santa Fe or Taos to experience the magic first-hand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
