Came from somewhere

We were saddened to read the letter from Bess Urbahn of Camden (BDN, Sept. 9-10).

She complained that her Verizon bill included a note about a cost increase and said, “The really bad news is that this information is also printed in Spanish. Why does Verizon, an American company, cater to immigrants too lazy to learn our language?”

Spanish is the second-most spoken language in our country and possibly in the world. Verizon and many other companies print their information in Spanish as well as English, to reflect the reality of our citizenry. Furthermore, most people from other countries do speak English, and sometimes several languages. Americans generally lag behind others in terms of proficiency in a second language; that is one reason Spanish and other languages are now taught in our elementary schools.

America is a country that has prided itself on its history of welcoming immigrants. Think about the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty. As an American (of Italian-English-Welsh ancestry) married to an American (of English-Native American-Italian ancestry), I cringe at the unkind comments of Urbahn and people like her. Certainly her ancestors came from somewhere. Unless perhaps they were our first true Americans, the Native Americans.

Mia Mantello and Bob Sewall

Lincolnville