The following was reported on the receipts at a Red Robin restaurant in Arizona.

Notice the bottom of the receipt. In English, it says “Thanks for visiting RED ROBIN. Please Pay Your Server”. Underneath that, in Spanish, it says “Please Pay Your Server. Tip is not included.” Are they insinuating that Mexicans don’t tip and have to be reminded to include a tip, whereas English speaking people are good tippers and are welcome at Red Robin any time. One might argue that perhaps tipping isn’t common in Mexico. However, tipping is just as prevalent and expected in Mexico as it is here, so that isn’t a valid argument.

Or to our way of thinking the more obvious question is if there were four guests why only two drinks? It’s Arizona for goodness sake. Everyone’s always thirsty there.

A new study from Northwestern University highlights the challenges many pharmacy-counter exchanges might present for those who speak only Spanish. Researchers there surveyed pharmacies in Texas and Colorado (which have had, for some time, large Latino populations) and Georgia and North Carolina (which have burgeoning Latino populations).

Of 764 pharmacies, only 43.3% could solidly offer instructions in Spanish, 21.7% offered some translation services and 34.9% offered no such  services.

Reference information available at: 1) The Northwestern news release and the journal abstract in the June issue of the journal Medical Care, and 2) Manual Merck de información médica para el hogar.

The abstract concludes: “The majority of pharmacies surveyed offered limited or no translation services. Lack of translation services is not isolated to rural areas or locations with a marginal Latino population. Spanish-speaking patients encounter barriers to acquiring instructions that support the safe and effective use of medications.”