being fluent in spanish can be quite an asset if your city has a large spanish-speaking population, but supply is starting to meet demand. i find that so many people know at least basic spanish nowadays that a lot of businesses seem to be hiring less bilinguals. i mean why hire a high-priced bilingual employee when you can hire someone who knows conversational spanish and is asking for less? instead, i think languages like russian, mandarin chinese, and arabic are becoming the in-demand languages.

i don't know if i would consider it something to b*tch about though; people in all fields have to adjust to accomodate changes in the environment all the time. several years ago, people didn't need to go to graduate school because a bachelor's degree was enough; that's not true anymore. doctors are expected to take additional courses each year so they can keep up with the ever-advancing medical and technological techniques or they can't keep their medical licenses. lawyers constantly have to read up on the most recent landmark court cases so they can build their cases. the minority/immigrant dynamic in this country shifts all the time so the desire for bilingual individuals to help market to that population to draw more customers to a company is inevitable.

The only reason I would ever learn spanish is to be a Border Guard down south, so I can say "get your ass back in Mexico and don't let me catch you here again."   All the while I am planting my size twelve boot imprint on their butt.

Vic,  Don't bother.  It probably would do us no good @ our age anyway.  I like your comment about putting your foot up those illegal's asses.