"City of Xenophobic Bigotry"

I am now horribly ashamed of the one cheesesteak I've ever had at Geno's.

Usually I avoid the intense South Philly rivalry of Pat's and Geno's and just head to South Street for Jim's and shopping, or go to John's closer to home. When choosing between the two most famous steak-makers, though, my family has always gone Pat's. The only time I ever ventured out of my comfort zone of Pat's or South Street was after I got back from Chile. Blame it on a whole semester of "trying new things," but I decided to give Geno's a chance. It is now a source of great regret.

This regret is due to the recent recognition given a sign posted in the window of that South Philly establishment. The small placard reads: This is AMERICA ... WHEN ORDERING, 'SPEAK ENGLISH.' Classy, right? I don't think that any of the growing population of immigrants in South Philadelphia (who Vento, the owner of Geno's, is apparently targeting with his sign) realized how important English is for getting by in the United States. (Note my dripping sarcasm.) Immigrants know better than anyone else how hard it is to manage without speaking this country's most common language, let's try not to make it harder for them by making them feel unwelcome, shall we? And need I remind Mr. Vento that America still has absolutely no national language to speak of? South Philadelphia was once a community bustling with Italian immigrants... are we so quick to forget?

Of course, my love of First Amendment rights leads me to assert that Vento has every right to display his closed-minded beliefs. But I will then exercise my right to forever eat elsewhere. As one Philadelphian said, "Yo, Geno's: Philadelphia is supposed to be the City of Brotherly Love, not the City of Xenophobic Bigotry."