We have a rule in the office - you can only speak a language other than English if your manager and colleagues understand and no clients are around; otherwise, you speak English. The unwritten rule is - you can speak a language other than English to your colleague, but you'd better be sure a client cannot understand you.
I moved into the area several years ago and was trekking back to Long Island every other weekend to go to a nail salon that I absolutely loved. I'm very picky about salons, so when I find a good one, I stay. The trek was becoming fairly difficult, so I asked a local I had come to know whether she had any recommendations. Well, she said she's just as picky as me and that I should try Forest Nails because they do a good job, and in particular, ask for Cindy.
At first visit, the salon seemed ok. The owner/manager seemed nice enough, the place clean enough, and the equipment and supplies seem ok - nowhere near like my place out on Long Island, but beggars can't be choosers. I visited a handful of times and came to appreciate the fact that I could always call and get a same-day appointment, and the prices seemed cheap to me. I'm totally ok paying more money for better quality, but it seems to be slim pickings in the local area.
Since I was just getting gel manicures, I wasn't picky about who did my nails. If Cindy was available, great, if not, almost anyone (except an older lady who seemed to fall asleep doing my nails) worked just fine. They weren't particularly smiley or friendly, but that didn't bother me because I'm not a chatty Cathy; I just want to be in and out under an hour.
On one occasion though, I had Cindy and wanted a french gel manicure. I wanted to make sure the white line was thicker to my liking and evenly curved. She drew a white line on one finger and showed me, and I asked her if she could make it thicker. So she did a few more fingers, I looked at them, and asked her if she could make the line thicker again. Then, one of her colleagues came up next to her and asked how it was going, and she muttered in Mandarin that I was a pain.
Again, if you are going to speak a language other than English, you had best be sure that the client cannot understand you. Cindy, I can understand Mandarin. read more