(person)
Kmart scientists have discovered that everyone who opens products and leaves them on shelves can read Spanish, so a Maryland store has cleverly posted this sign to warn stuff-openers to ceasendesisto. Silly Patrick, who spotted the appropriate and in-no-way-insensitive signage, takes issue with its posting:
I’m not quite for sure why the local K-Mart needed to write a sign in misspelled Spanish to not open the products. Is it okay for speakers of other languages to open the products but not those who can understand the sign and are Spanish speakers? I’m thinking not.This was the only sticker I found in the store and it just so happened to be on the cleaning product aisle. According to census data the Hispanic/Latino is only 6.5% As a Caucasian male, I find this to be offensive toward the Latino community.
Again, it’s tough to see why Patrick considers this racist. Kmart is probably just implying that those who know Spanish take their home cleaning seriously. It’s a compliment, if anything. I’m sure Kmart has all sorts of friends who speak Spanish. Not friends they’d invite to dinner or anything, but great pals whom they totally respect and think of as really hard workers.
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well, if those are the primary culprits, then its just a coincidence i guess
Family Guy is racist too. Why is the maid Hispanic?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HBK0RN1Zy4
It’s not just Spanish-speaking people that need to stop opening packages, especially when the box in question is sealed and the person can’t put things back together. And then people complain when all the boxes are open… Blame yourselves, not the staff.
When the HUGE invasion of mexican illegals started in the Goshen, Indiana area, a trip to the local Walmart showed that when they looked at something in the store, this was their normal behavior. On the floor below every clothing rack were piles of clothes, they would look at them then toss them on the floor if they didn’t buy them. At any given time, around the entire store, 5-10% of the store inventory was on the floor. I think it is a Mexican cultural thing, that is probably why the signs are in espanol. They would open boxes, have a look, and toss them aside.
Probably through camera footage they noticed that most of the people who opened packages in store looked Hispanic. The main problem they have with opening packages is is is good as making the product used. Most people will avoid a product that looks like it has been opened before as it generally means it is either used or has something stolen from it.
Many people open packages in stores to steal tiny things, eg a gasket for a blender, rubber caps for those rice cookers and other random stuff, It is annoying beyond words when you buy a product, you find that parts are missing because someone stole stuff from it and then when you take it back to the store, And try to convince them to accept it back when they notice a missing part (many cases they don’t because there is no way for you to prove that you didn’t take the part your self.
It is a hassle for the business and a even bigger hassle for shoppers who end up buying those products. I have had first hand experience with this problem. Parents bought a blender, but it was missing the gasket that goes on the bottom half (some jerk unscrewed it then took the gasket then screwed it back on then put it) luckily the store accepted an exchange which we opened in front of them and after 5 tries we finally found one with the gasket still there)
If you are going to steal crap from the store, at least steal the whole product or damage the box so other shoppers wont buy it and have to go through this crap.
Also wanted to add, if you live around the ling island area, do this little test, notice how products like blenders, and other appliances, and even electronic accessories such as TV antennas and other random objects what come with parts that can easily be pocketed never seem to be in the box, but you can find those same random parts in the nearby flea markets.
I remember back in the 90′s at kmart, the workers had to clear out an entire shelf of tv antennas and restock them with items from the back of the store because all of them had the little RF adapter stolen from the box. for those who don’t remember those, this is how they look http://i.imgur.com/NXhm7.jpg
It will be better to enforce a rule where the item must be purchased first then the customer can then open the item in store to confirm the contents and if it is not correct then it can be swapped, then view opening the boxes before buying as you would stealing.
This will fix many problems.
What’s even more funny… If you see the picture, it says “pordutctos”. They meant “productos”. Someone doesn’t even know to type in Spanish.
Perhaps it’s because they had problems with spanish-speaking customers opening packages? Maybe other customers already know it’s customary not to. The facts may seem racist, but they are still facts even if you don’t want to face them.
Having worked in retail for six years, it’s a simple fact: Hispanics open things. Retailers in general have a problem with anyone ‘opening’ stuff because:
1. Opening something that is brand new and FACTORY SEALED invalidates the entire concept of the item being ‘new’ and therefore the product can not be sold as new, hence they must send it off or sell it for less.
2. Once said merchandise has been opened to be ‘inspected’ for whatever reason, more often than not people just leave it there and pick up a different box that is still sealed and purchases it. To a lesser extent the item is just left where it is.
If this guy has a problem with this store making a short note for a group of people where language is obviously a barrier to communication, he seriously needs to consider better options of what to do with his time than complain to the Consumerist. Writing a note to communicate something easier is akin to buildings having braille on elevators for blind people to read what floor they are on or want to be on. On a side note, Kmart seems to have lowered the bar even further on hiring credentials, specifically when it comes to one’s ability to spell.
In Japan, often the warnings about security or electronic surveillance that are geared toward shoplifters are often only written in English even though the foreign population of the entire country (let alone the percentage of shoplifters, many of which are elderly Japanese people who aren’t poor but simply prefer not to spend their money if they can lift stuff for “free”) is less than 2%.
I don’t care if they can absolutely prove without a scrap of doubt that only Spanish speakers open packaging. It hurts (and costs) nothing to make the signs both in English and Spanish and avoids the racist undertones.
It’s just the professional and sensitive thing to do. You’d THINK that people in the sales and marketing business would care about things like that.
Different cultural norms – the same reason that when I lived in Houston I would see billboards in Spanish reminding folks of the age of consent in the US.
Yeah, I live in Houston too. My impression is that such a billboard implies that only native Spanish speakers need to be reminded of such a thing.
“Reminded” is the wrong word; the age of consent is lower in Mexico than it is in the United States.
Patrick, shut up and be happy your white for all the job opportunities and raises you will get as a white english speaker.
Unfortunately, many jobs require bilingual workers. Which is why hispanics overwhelmingly inhabit all the office worker/receptionist jobs. And affirmative action works for hispanics as well.
Unfortunately, many jobs require bilingual workers. Which is why hispanics overwhelmingly inhabit all the office worker/receptionist jobs. And affirmative action works for hispanics as well.
What Census year? I’ve noticed that the Hispanic population of Maryland has increased LOTS since the 2000 Census. And perhaps they have noticed a problem in that particular store with Spanish-only speakers opening products.
I don’t see why it’s offensive. It’s no more offensive than a sign in any other language.
This is the only one of these he saw?
Clearly they specifically noticed spanish-speaking latinos were doing this on these specific products and they put a sign up asking them not to. That’s not racist.
The sign still shouldn’t be in spanish.
“According to census data the Hispanic/Latino is only 6.5%”
6.5% what? 6.5% Dietary fibre? 6.5% Nitrogen? 6.5% alchohol by volume? 6.5% biodiesel? 6.5% milk fat?
Help, I don’t understand this sentence!
Oh wait…maybe he means that the proportion of the general population that is Hispanic/Latino is 6.5% according to census data. Something tells me that in certain locations of the country census data may not accurately reflect the true proportion of the general population that is Hispanic/Latino.
/grammarnazi
I worked at home depot, the only people who opened boxes were hispanic, they’d do it right in front of you or in front of anyone like it was no big deal. When you said “no” they’d act like
“what’s the problemo meng”, and this was new hampshire. It’s true, I think it’s a culture difference, because white people won’t buy things that are open, but the Hispanics would buy the stuff that was torn open and just make sure the parts were there.
No wonder K-mart closed its stores in Houston a few years ago.
Based on the population mix, they’d have to post in Spanish, Arabic, Pakastani, Chinese (traditional and modern), Vietnamise and a few assorted African dialouges.
English would be optional.
Why does everything have to be posted in English AND Spanish now. If you are going to live in another country, at least make the effort to learn the language that is spoken there.
It’s about good business practices. If a business thinks enough of its potential customers would be more comfortable in another language, that’s up to then to decide. (As would be not insulting customers who speak another language by calling them out only in their tongue).