Due to her mother's Chinese accent and her limited yet "vivid [and] direct" (126) approach to speaking, people still would not give her a moment's thought about giving her the service that she deserved. .
Another example of discrimination due to a person's non-standard language skills is when Tan's mother was trying to "find out about a benign brain tumor CAT scan" (127) that had been revealed the month prior. Tan's mother was having a difficult time trying to get information from the doctor's office. She kept telling the nurses to call her daughter and she would explain everything but they would continuously ignore her. This went on for some time before the office called Tan. Low and behold, "when the doctor finally called [Tan], who spoke in perfect English . . . [they] had assurances that the CAT scan would be found, promises that a conference call on Monday would be held, and apologies for any kind of suffering [her] mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake" (128). For the doctor's to fully cooperate, it took Tan's scholarly English to make them realize how poorly and insignificant they were treating her mother based on the way she spoke. Tan's example demonstrates that everyday people are being treated unequally because of the way they speak. It is a form of discrimination that is based on perceptions that just because they may sound uneducated, they must lack "a certain wholeness and soundness" (126).
Although communicating in "simple" English is looked down upon in the working world, immigrants often find themselves using this type of English in the safe confines of the family environment. Within a family, one feels safe and protected therefore they easily use it with each other and not even thinking twice about the quality of sentences or "proper" use of English grammar. A family environment also provides support and love that no professional circle can provide.