Originally published December 23, 2005.
As Matthew looked across the manufacturing floor, the machines stood silent, the shipping dock was clear. Outside, the service vans were neatly parked in a row. Though he was the solitary figure, Matthew shouted across the empty space.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night.â€
He reached for the switch and the mercury vapors went dark. He slid out the door and locked it behind.
—
We hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Management Skills Blog will return on January 3, 2007. We will be checking email over the holidays, so if you need us, you know how to get us.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. -TF
Happy Christmas Tom !
And a Happy New Year – with the best wishes from Sweden
/ Timo
Hey Timo,
Good to hear from you.
Dear Tom – today i wrote about language barriers on my swedish blog. (the one and only english comment on this blog)
(Not a problem for you in the US – with a lot of people, and all of you speaking english – but an obstacle many times for us in the small country of Sweden….)
“Gott Nytt Ã…r”
🙂
Hey, Timo,
We have very similar problems in the US. In South Florida, where I live, we have more than 180 languages and dialects spoken. Very strong Creole (variation of French), French Canadian, Spanish (Mexican and South American dialects) and Portuguese. There are many places in South Florida where people find it odd that you are speaking English and some places where no English is spoken at all.
The impact is more than just interesting. Much of our direct labor force is non-English speaking, which means bi-lingual skills are much in demand for supervisors and foremen. This becomes especially critical with issues related to safety where a mistake could hurt or kill someone.
I will stick with my native language as I wish you all a “Happy New Year.â€