Obama + Spanish Music = Disaster!

Let me just say "hallelujah!" because my internet is finally working after having been down all day. You never know how dependent you are on something until it's gone.

Anyway, today Rose and I went to the mall to escape the heat (and the monotony of reading Dr. Seuss books over and over again). The first stop was Barnes and Noble. They were playing some cool Latin-jazz type of music, and I really liked it. However, an older gentleman walked up to one of the employees and the following conversation ensued:

Man: Do you only play Spanish music in here?
Employee: No, sir.
Man: I've been in here for thirty minutes and that's all I've heard!
Employee: I'm sorry, sir; we periodically change our CDs.
Man: It's bad enough that we've got Obama as a nominee...now we have to listen to Spanish everywhere! [walks off angrily]

Now this really threw me for a loop. Don't get me wrong; I like English as much as the next guy, and I do think that people living in America should make an attempt to learn and speak it. However, this music was just part of the "artsy cafe" variety--not like ranchera music (which I think is tremendously corny, by the way). I'm surprised he didn't suggest getting rid of Laura Esquivel's books or Frida Kahlo's paintings. Here I was just enjoying this cool Latin-inspired music, and some old guy thinks it's part of some subversive plan.

Out in front of the store there are some Asian masseurs. When Sevak and I pass them, we always mutter under our breath, "no eye contact...don't...look." If they catch your glance, you're sure to get barraged with a million offers of a massage. Anyway, I passed them and was really glad that old guy wasn't around. He probably would have heard them speaking Chinese and yelled, "What is this, China??" I guess he was really disgruntled by the whole Obama thing.