Soy Bilingue
I’m always eating fast food. I know it’s not good for me. I know! Shut up for a second. You see, growing up my family didn’t have a lot of money. It was cheaper to go to McDonald’s and get $1 McChickens than to go to the store and spend $50 on groceries for one meal. Going to fast food restaurants was normal for our family. So yes, I’ve been to almost all fast food restaurants. Even as an adult I continue to do so. I’m in no way telling you to stop eating at home and eat fast food (unless Taco Bell paid me to star in a commercial yo quiero Taco Bell.) For some families that’s the only option. Just like it was for my family.
Recently, I was at Wingstop with my cousin Jenny. We were getting our favorite: lemon pepper wings, and honey BBQ wings. Wingstop was pretty packed. Jenny wanted ketchup for her fries, and I said to her in my Salvadoran accent “No tenes ketcha en la casa?” some man next to me said “Why’d you say that in Spanish?” I didn’t hear him so I said “excuse me?” Also because I like saying excuse me especially in awkward situations because I like to make people feel stupid. It was clearly none of his business why I was speaking Spanish.
“You said ‘don’t you have that at home?’ why didn’t you say that in English”-man
“Because I’m bilingual. And I can speak whatever language I want”
He wasn’t offended! He laughed and said “Have a goodnight.” I smiled and said, “You too, sir.”
If you only speak one language then you probably don’t understand. I think in two languages. My sentences can start in Spanish and end in English. Or the other way around. Sometimes I don’t know how to say a word in English and sometimes I don’t know how to say a word in Spanish. To ask someone why they say something in another language is like asking them “why do you do the things you do?” To ask me to only speak one language is asking me to not be myself. I am not an English speaking woman. I am not even a Spanish speaking woman. Yo soy bilingue. And I’ll speak whatever language I want.
Originally published on Medium.com
