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For those nonnative to English tongue

March 31, 2012
By sarahdcee26 PLATINUM, Palos Verdes Estates, California
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sarahdcee26 PLATINUM, Palos Verdes Estates, California
22 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" - Dr. Seuss

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For those nonnative to English tongue,
a twist of cordiality, another song sung,
There are moments to choose which one is above,
Decisions of which some know not of.

As she mops the floor with her buttery smile,
I stop my gaze in the mirror for a while
To greet her, one and all the same
In her native language, hold one word feel pain.

Why am I the formal one,
With your life fuller, mine now begun?

They say prejudice is obsolete,
Though funny how the uttered word speaks.

The author's comments:
I am caucasian, though I speak conversationally fluent Spanish. I love the language, and speak it whenever I get the chance. My house up-keeper is from El Salvador, and I noticed one time that she called me tú, the informal "you" in Spanish, and quickly corrected it to usted, the formal "you". This upset me greatly because I feel it is societal pressures that make her believe she needs to treat me as her superior, when she is clearly my equal, and then some.
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