Let me set the scene...
I was home of the holidays. Standing in my parents kitchen. Everyone was tossing around ideas on where to go to lunch, as if going anywhere else but my favorite pizza joint was even a remote possibility. Anyway, my mother belts out, "oh, we could go to Chipotle (pronounced Chip-ol-tay)". I turned my inquisitive gaze to my brother who, without acknowledging my confusion, responded with "yeah, I love Chipotle (pronounced Chip-olay)". Honestly, it was the first time in my life that I thought I was for sure being 'Punk'd'. Like that fucker Ashton Kutcher had an in with the Fulton family. I half expected to be a viral video by morning. Surely my family can't be incapable of correctly saying the name of the most popular Americanized Mexican fast food chain, and if they are, doesn't that make them, albeit subconsciously, a little bit prejudice? I think it kind of does. You start pronouncing Chipotle like you live 200 miles south of the Mason-Dixon and you might as well start laying your head to rest on a confederate flag pillow. Know who else doesn't know how to say Chipotle? The redneck that stopped off at George Lopez' house to take a dump on his porch while transporting bricks to Southern California for Donald Trump. Switching around the syllables in the name of an establishment that is predicated upon the sale of cheap Mexican food is like one or two steps below saying 'wetback'. It might not be an actual slur, but it's absolutely a macro-aggression. 'Chip-olay' I can let slide, but 'Chip-ol-tay' is like saying the word 'colored'. People might not openly criticize you, but it's not a coincidence that everyone within a ten foot radius instantly became preoccupied with anything else but your company. The Mexicans don't ask for much. Just open borders, the ability to provide relatively cheap labor, and the most minute amount of respect in being able to properly speak the language of their American born people. I guess my question is, does anyone else, besides my family, refuse to show them that respect, and pronounce Chipotle any other way than 'Cha-poat-lay'?
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