Man sues airline for 12,000$ over lack of French service
- Thread starter Ailia
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Quebec is like Canada's whiny little brother.
Always threatening to leave, whining that they don't get special treatment, and is generally unlikeable.
Always threatening to leave, whining that they don't get special treatment, and is generally unlikeable.
What a heartwarming story. I'm waiting to see it made into a movie about the little guy taking on the evil corporations...who presumably don't have outlandish accents.
Eh, stupid, yeah, but I daresay many people would do that if they could.
Eh, stupid, yeah, but I daresay many people would do that if they could.
No, but as a flight attendant you HAVE to know your languages. It's potentially dangerous for passengers who can't speak English in case of emergency. English may be the most spoken language in the world, but believe me there are a lot of people who don't know how to speak or understand proper English. I myself worked as a flight attendant for a year and I made DAMN sure I got all my languages straightened up.icame said:
Na man I get that n I respect the them wanting to keep the customs n language and such but somtimes it gets to be rude if say your passing through and your a little lost and nobody will do anything but be snooty to you cause you only speak english. I mean we do learn french all the way through school I had to take it from grade 1 - 9 but I am terrible at french I could never get the hang of it and somtimes its annoying when you get people being really rude or all rallying to be seperated its just like why cant you just be happy n just get along with everyone else its not like the rest of the country is forcing you to abandon your herritage.Mr.Tea said:
Wow. Some people will find something to ***** about no matter what. I really hope the courts don't entertain this. I mean come on, at the point where he is complaining he got a Sprite instead of a 7up, it's pretty clear this guy is just looking for something to sue over. The attendant obviously understood him. (realize that Coke and Pepsi have pretty serious contracts with these companies. That's why most corporations that sell pop only have one or the other) Regardless of the validity of any other claims, he loses me as soon as he bothers with the Sprite thing. That really shows his true colors.
There comes a point though where you have to take care of yourself. If i know damn well someone doesn't speak english, how stupid does it make me when i repeatedly speak english to them expecting a different result. I don't get to sue every time. At some point am i not expected to stop banging my head against a wall? If you are repeatedly so offended, why keep going?
If you have an issue like this isn't it up to an authority to punish air canada? If he is truly offended for all Quebecois, surely he can just complain to the language governing bodies. I don't see how this guy was personally injured to require money from them in a lawsuit. Seems like a sketchy cash grab to me disguised as activism. Does this guy realize how expensive bilingual employees are? Dontcha think $500,000 could be better spent by Air Canada? This is disgusting and (should be imo) an affront to the Quebecois.
There comes a point though where you have to take care of yourself. If i know damn well someone doesn't speak english, how stupid does it make me when i repeatedly speak english to them expecting a different result. I don't get to sue every time. At some point am i not expected to stop banging my head against a wall? If you are repeatedly so offended, why keep going?
If you have an issue like this isn't it up to an authority to punish air canada? If he is truly offended for all Quebecois, surely he can just complain to the language governing bodies. I don't see how this guy was personally injured to require money from them in a lawsuit. Seems like a sketchy cash grab to me disguised as activism. Does this guy realize how expensive bilingual employees are? Dontcha think $500,000 could be better spent by Air Canada? This is disgusting and (should be imo) an affront to the Quebecois.
This kind of crap is exactly what I have to deal with every day in Ottawa, the french here are very self entitled arrogant and generally unlikeable. Also given this guys history I think it's less a crusade and more a cash grab. Did the airline even offer sprite, most wont offer sprite and 7up too. I have never heard a Quebecker not say "7up" or "sprite" without just adding "le" in front so I don't see how there could be any issue there unless he did some backwards description of what drink he wanted.Ailia said:
Oh don't worry, it is. When I lived in Québec I was insulted by the way the rest of Canada (and a good chunk of the world) thought about us, but having lived outside of it for a years I see where they're coming from. It's dicks like that guy who give the impression that we're a bunch of whiny, separatist assholes who are over-zealous about our language (I'm not saying that we shouldn't defend our language, but, Christ, people need to stop getting so riled over stupid things like this).intheweeds said:
It's not even that i think people shouldn't get riled up over it. Maybe some get a little too riled up, but what can you do. I'm all for protecting the culture and language. The problem I have is that this is obviously a cash grab disguised as activism which gives everyone who really is fighting for that cause a bad name.Ailia said:
As part of a small minority in a bilingual country, this makes me very sad. I just cant see how it's such a big deal whether you get treatment in your own language or not. I suppose I understand how some people think it is, and who am I to judge, but practically, it's a completely different deal.
I hope things like this doesnt give small minorities like the québecians a bad name. Or the minority Im part of either, for that reason.
To sum things up, that was silly and unneccessary, but fundamentally and lawfully, I suppose he is in the right.
I hope things like this doesnt give small minorities like the québecians a bad name. Or the minority Im part of either, for that reason.
To sum things up, that was silly and unneccessary, but fundamentally and lawfully, I suppose he is in the right.
A fellow Ottawa Escapist! First I've seen so far.Rayne870 said:
I'm actually a bit baffled by the French-English hate going on around here. I lived out west for a few years and people simply found it fascinating that I'm Québec (there's not much French spoken out there) but the closer you get to the border the worse it gets. It's almost like an inferiority complex or something...
And I'd say that not all of use are arrogant and unlikeable but I'm sure you'll run into three people tomorrow that will completely stomp over my statement so I won't even bother.
You're absolutely right. It was the phrase "it wasn't for the money but to make a point" that really pissed me off in that article.intheweeds said:
I'll defend French until I'm the last one speaking it in Canada if I have to, but it won't be because I want to make an extra buck out of it. If this guy was out to expose the lack of bilingualism in a national agency he should've gone about it a different way.
I thought New Brunswick was the only truly bilingual province.
OT: Isn't 7up and Sprite pronounced the same in English as well as French? It sounds like the attendant completely misheard him. Definitely not an offense worth suing over though.
edit: I will say it's annoying when signs have to change from something like Richmond road to Richmond road/rue. Were there really people who were completely thrown off by the word road? Stupid amounts of money were spent changing the signs to accommodate idiocy like that.
Useful info I can understand but that's retarded.
Also translating brand names and product names are pointless as well.
A hot dog is a hot dog everywhere else but here, here it's also a chien chaude(spelling might be off).
OT: Isn't 7up and Sprite pronounced the same in English as well as French? It sounds like the attendant completely misheard him. Definitely not an offense worth suing over though.
edit: I will say it's annoying when signs have to change from something like Richmond road to Richmond road/rue. Were there really people who were completely thrown off by the word road? Stupid amounts of money were spent changing the signs to accommodate idiocy like that.
Useful info I can understand but that's retarded.
Also translating brand names and product names are pointless as well.
A hot dog is a hot dog everywhere else but here, here it's also a chien chaude(spelling might be off).
Haters gonna hate, suers gonna sue.
To be fair, though, my father complains a lot about the lack of french service with companies that should be providing it, though he's only thinking about going as far as a sending a formal complain letter to the offenders in question.
He's surely gonna LOL when he sees this piece of news.
To be fair, though, my father complains a lot about the lack of french service with companies that should be providing it, though he's only thinking about going as far as a sending a formal complain letter to the offenders in question.
He's surely gonna LOL when he sees this piece of news.