By Christian R. Lebrón León
No, it is not an exaggeration to say that even the language
of customer service in Puerto Rico is being shaped by hurry, impatience, and
the lack of standards. Today I want to talk about a seemingly innocent word
that reveals a lot about where we are heading as a society: the now‑famous “continúe”
in Puerto Rican restaurants and fast‑food chains.
In my more than 40 years of life—after living two decades in
the United States, traveling, and working with private companies and government
agencies—I had never heard anything similar in any other country when ordering
food. Not in the United States, not in Europe, not in the many places where I
have shared with different cultures.
Only here, in this kind of tropical “Gotham City” called
Puerto Rico, have we decided that serving a customer means verbally pushing
them to hurry up:
“Good afternoon, your order?”
You answer.
And without a “thank you” or “anything else?”, immediately:
“Continúe.”
And that’s where the problem starts.
“Continúe”: Efficiency or Disrespect?
I’ve heard two very clear positions on this practice:
- They say things like:
– “That’s good. It makes people speed up, and the line moves faster.”
– “People waste time; you have to put pressure.” - Others comment:
– “It feels cold, like you’re a nuisance.”
– “It sounds like you’re in a production line, not a restaurant.”
As a labor relations advisor, I don’t see this word as a
simple stylistic choice. I see it as a symptom—a reflection of how we’ve
been normalizing hurry, dehumanization, and the abandonment of quality
standards, not just in education and the professions, but even in something as
basic as customer service.
Because if you think about it, “continúe” is not
neutral. It is not the same as:
- “Would
you like anything else?”
- “Can I
help you with something more?”
- “When
you’re ready, let me know.”
Those phrases invite you. “Continúe” pushes you. It
assumes that you’re being slow, that you’re holding up the line, and that you
need to move faster.
Language as a Tool of Control
In my years investigating workplace practices and
environments, one thing is always true: language is never innocent.
- A
supervisor who calls an employee “difficult” has already conditioned
everyone to see that person as a problem, not as a human being.
- An
employer who talks about “human resources” but treats people as disposable
objects has already said everything without saying it explicitly.
- A
restaurant that trains its staff to say “continúe” is sending a clear
message: speed matters more than the customer’s experience.
And when you normalize that language in something as
everyday as ordering food, you’re not just training the employee; you’re
training the entire country to accept that haste justifies any kind of
treatment.
Today it’s “continúe” at a fast‑food counter. Tomorrow it’s:
- “Continue”
at the doctor’s office, while you try to explain an important symptom.
- “Continue”
at a bank, while you try to understand a financial document that may
affect you for years.
- “Continue”
at a government office, while you ask questions about a right you don’t
even fully understand.
The word is small. The message is huge: “Don’t think too
much, don’t ask too much, don’t stop… just continue.”
The Customer as Obstacle, Not Person
In theory, customer‑service manuals talk about respect,
courtesy, and empathy. In practice, in too many places:
- The
customer who asks questions is “difficult.”
- The
customer who takes their time is “holding up the line.”
- The
customer who wants clarity is “complicated.”
That “continúe” repeated over and over—with a mechanical
tone, no pause, no listening—reinforces the idea that the customer:
- Is
getting in the way of the system,
- Must
adapt to someone else’s rush, and
- Doesn’t
even deserve a basic expression of courtesy.
And the saddest part is that, little by little, the customer
gets used to it. Just as we’ve gotten used to broken roads, blackouts, and
lowered academic standards, now we also get used to being treated as if the
line were more important than our dignity.
“But That Word Isn’t Doing Any Real Harm…” – The Same Old
Excuses
In Puerto Rico, we have a bad habit: justifying the
unjustifiable.
The same excuses I hear when someone loses their job for
doing the right thing, I now hear to defend poor, dehumanizing language in
service:
- “Oh,
that’s nothing. People complain about everything.”
- “What
matters is that they serve you fast.”
- “Those
are just little details; what matters is that the food comes out.”
It’s the same dangerous logic as always:
- When
they lower the passing score for the medical board exam, “It’s justice.”
- When
they cut the bar‑exam passing score: “It’s to help the students.”
- When
they relax professional requirements: “It’s to avoid shortages.”
- When a
restaurant stops training staff in basic courtesy: “It’s so the line moves
faster.”
No. It isn’t justice. It isn’t helping. It isn’t true
efficiency.
It’s giving up on standards.
We don’t want to invest time, money, or effort in properly
training people. It’s easier to train them to repeat “continúe” than to teach
them to:
- listen,
- respect,
- manage
customer flow without dehumanizing people.
What If “Continúe” Becomes Normal Everywhere?
Think for a moment about this “continúe” culture spreading:
- In
clinics:
– “Doctor, I’ve had this chest discomfort for weeks…”
– “Uh‑huh, continue, continue…” while the doctor barely looks at you. - In
education:
– The teacher who, instead of explaining, only says, “Continue, copy from the slide; it’ll be on the test.” - In
government agencies:
– “No, no, don’t ask so many questions, just sign here and continue.” - In
banks or finance offices:
– “This contract is standard; nobody reads it in full, just sign and continue.”
What seems today like a harmless little phrase in a fast‑food
place becomes tomorrow an entire culture: a society where thinking, pausing,
questioning, or asking for clarity is seen as a nuisance.
And when we stop thinking, when we accept everything “so the
line moves faster,” we give up exactly what we most need to keep: our own
judgment.
Is This Just the Employees’ Fault?
No. And that needs to be said clearly.
The young man or woman standing behind the register did not
invent “continúe.” Most likely:
- It
was taught in training,
- It’s
part of a corporate “script,”
- No
one explained why it sounds harsh or disrespectful,
- Their performance is measured by the speed of the line, not by the quality of treatment.
The problem is organizational culture—supervisors,
managers, and owners who have decided that:
- It’s
more important to sell fast than to serve well.
- It’s
more profitable to standardize phrases than to develop judgment.
- It’s
more convenient to pressure the customer than to properly train the
employee.
As in so many other areas of our tropical “Gotham City,” the
problem is not just the visible villain (the word “continúe”), but the system
that legitimizes it, repeats it, and imposes it as the norm.
So, What Do We Do?
I’m not proposing a hysterical crusade against one word. I’m
proposing something much simpler—and much braver:
- Say openly: “That way of speaking to customers is unprofessional,
dehumanizing, and I don’t want it normalized for my children.”
- If you are an owner or manager, ask yourself:
– Do I want my brand associated with rush and coldness?
– Can’t I achieve efficiency without treating customers as if they’re in the way?
– What if I trained my staff to say, “Take your time; when you’re ready, let me know,” and still managed the line well? - A script is easy.
The hard—but necessary—part is forming employees who truly understand that the customer is a person, not an obstacle. - You have more power than you think.
You can:
– Take your business elsewhere when treatment is disrespectful.
– Give respectful feedback: “That phrase ‘continue’ sounds very abrupt; I’d prefer a more courteous interaction.”
– Recognize and praise those who do offer professional, humane service.
Conclusion: We Don’t Need More Speed; We Need More
Dignity
In Puerto Rico, we’ve already seen what happens when we
lower academic standards, professional licensing standards, and ethical standards. Now
we’re seeing it in daily life: at the wheel, at the drive‑thru, at the counter.
A country is not destroyed by major corruption scandals alone. It is also eroded by small, daily gestures that shape how we live:
– “Everybody does it,”
– “That’s how things work here,”
– The “continue” that replaces courtesy.
No, Batman is coming to fix this.
There is no Bat‑Signal that will, by magic, change the culture of service on
this island.
The only person who can demand respect when you order food,
when you request a service, when you raise your children, is you.
Integrity is not only about telling the truth in court or exposing
a multimillion‑dollar fraud. It is also refusing to accept as “normal” what
we know, deep down, is wrong, even if it seems like a small detail.
Language matters.
Treatment matters.
Dignity matters.
And of this I am sure: a country that gets used to being
told “continue” as if it were a machine will end up accepting being treated as
such in everything else.
Dare to demand respect, even when you’re just ordering
lunch. Puerto Rico needs it.
Christian R. Lebrón León is a labor relations advisor
with more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors,
focused on labor standards compliance, investigations, and ethical leadership.
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