On Wednesday, we posted a video of Enrique Andrade, the alluring "Spanish voice of MAX."

It elicited a great deal of reader response. Some enjoyed learning about the 41-year-old Beaverton resident behind "Puertas a mi derecha" (Doors to my right) on Portland area light rail trains; others weren't as charmed. In fact, a few people automatically went to a pretty dark place.

One asked: "Why don't you tell us about the English voice of MAX, since that's the official language of the United States?"

Several wanted to know why TriMet even needs a Spanish recording to welcome riders and to announce opening doors at stops. (By the way, TriMet says Andrade was paid $624 for an hour's work the last time the agency hired him to record an announcement.)

"At one time immigrants TRIED to assimilate INTO our culture," wrote Shawn Fulton on Facebook. "This made our country unified & the strongest in the world!"

OK, let's slow down here.

Jodi Lorimer: The English voice of the MAX

Andrade was trending on social media this week, so I thought it would be fun to sit down for a coffee in downtown Portland and catch up with him. I recorded much of the conversation with my iPhone and pieced together the best parts.

But since people are asking:

Portland voice-over actress and author Jodi Lorimer voices the English-language MAX announcements for stations and door side for each stop. As regular transit riders know, she also welcomes you aboard, advises to use caution when crossing track and gives a polite reminder to move for seniors and people with disabilities.

A few years ago, the MAX FAQs blog posted a profile of Lorimer. Her radio and TV credits are extensive.

Here she is discussing her book "Dancing at the Edge of Death: The Origins of the Labyrinth in the Paleolithic."

Dancing at the Edge of Death: The Origins of the Labyrinth in the Paleolithic from Daniel Davis on Vimeo.

As for why TriMet sees the need to pay for Spanish voice on its trains, I'll let agency spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt tackle that one:

Accessibility is a priority for TriMet. We have a responsibility to provide information to our customers to make our system as easy to use as possible.  We are also required by federal law to provide language access services to customers who have limited English proficiency.  As such, because the highest concentration of ESL riders speak Spanish, we included announcements in Spanish on our MAX trains.

MAX station stop names have always been announced in English only.  Since 1997, it has been our practice to make other announcements in English and Spanish.  These include announcing which side of the vehicle the doors will open at each stop, line designations and public service announcements.  We believe that these announcements serve to minimize confusion for our significant Spanish-speaking rider population, which helps make the system more efficient for everyone who rides.

One more thing: The 2010 U.S. Census reported that Oregon's Latino population surged 63 percent in 10 years, largely fueling the state's 12 percent growth since 2000.

Much of the state's Latino population is also concentrated in the metro area, with about 43 percent calling Multnomah, Washington or Clackamas counties home.

So, the need is there.

Of course, several TriMet riders said they were happy to learn more about Andrade, who works as a Spanish courtroom interpreter in Washington County.

Some even thanked him for teaching them a little bit of Spanish.

Meanwhile, on Facebook, reader Audrey Roberts said she created her created own translations of Andrade's announcments: "Porkchops are going to getchya!" (puertas a mi direcha) "porkchops are going to scare ya!" (puertas a mi izquierda)"

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