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Belgian train attendant was reprimanded for greeting passengers in both Dutch and French [1]
['Natalie Dressed']
Date: 2025-08-25
A quick overview before we get to our main attraction- Belgium is split into two regions, Flanders and Wallonia. Wallonia is French-speaking, Flanders is Dutch-speaking. Both regions are very particular about their respective tongues, but it's common to speak a bit of both or switch depending on who you're addressing. This is especially true in and near Brussels, where both tongues are the lingua franca. But being particular in this case was taken to an extreme.
Last year, a train attendant had the audacity to greet passengers in both Flemish and French. An irate passenger decided this was a substantial enough insult to the country's linguistic control laws to have the guy reprimanded. The train company ultimately sided with the complainant.
Five months after the initial incident, in March, the commission issued its opinion: The commuter's complaint was "well founded." […]the train attendant should have greeted passengers in Dutch. "As soon as he knows the traveler's language (French or Dutch), he will respond in that language (French or Dutch)," the commission said in a statement. Jenny Gross, NY Times
Still, Belgium's SNCB was sympathetic. The guy didn't get fired for his French insolence. However, he decide to capitalize on his grievance. He now has a line of mugs for sale that read "goeiendag" and "bonjour" alongside the Belgian flag.
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