Posted by
arandomguy on Friday, January 12, 2007 12:54:15 AM
This is outrageous. A Pizza shop in Texas, called Pizza Patron, has announced that it will accept Pesos as payment for its Pizzas. The restaurants are usually located in Hispanic neighborhoods, and all managers must be bilingual to converse with the customers. This I do not have a problem with per se, though that it is necessary at all is a bit disturbing.
What I'm peeved about, is that they accept Pesos. Even spanish-speaking people in America use the dollar. How else would they get pesos? Nobody walks around carrying Pesos, so this seems foolish. The only reason to do this, is because the restaurant is in the south, near the border, and close to floods of illegal Mexican immigrants who enter this country each day.
According to reports by the company, they have received death threats after announcing this particular plan, along with many other angry emails. I don't approve of sending death threats - it's against the law first, and secondly it makes you look stupid - but I'm not surprised there's a local outrage about this. I'd be upset if that happened here in Minnesota, or down south in Texas.
It's not just border towns either. Pizza Patron's in Denver, 700 miles from the nearest border, and Dallas, 400 miles from the nearest border, now accept pesos from their customers. Perhaps there is a decent case to be made for accepting pesos at the border. Those immigrants who enter legally, or even those who are just visiting may not want to exchange something. They can already shop at WalMart in the border area, and pay in pesos. And here in Minnesota, particularly northern Minnesota, some businesses will accept Canadian currency. This makes a degree of sense, because not every person (legal or illegal) in the area will have the right currency, and exchanging it takes time.
But Denver? Dallas? These don't make any sense. Yes, they are cities with large Hispanic populations, but they are so far removed from the border that people living there aren't likely to have any pesos anyway. Unless they deliberately go and exchange their dollars for Pesos somewhere, they are likely to have American currency, just like everyone else. Even as a business practice, this seems if not foolish, then unnecessary. It may prove hurtful, if customers grow angry and stop buying their Pizza's.
Part of being an American is assimilating into our culture and our society, at least partially. Paying for American goods with foreign currency is not the best way to begin that process of assimilation. There is also the added fact that this will make it easier for illegals. They will now be able to buy things with the little money they have after they illegally cross the border. To be sure, if I've just crossed miles of desert, the first thing on my mind wouldn't be buying a Pizza, but the ability to do so is still there.
I think it is ridiculous that restaurants in Denver and Dallas are accepting currency of a foreign nation. There's no law against it (that I know of), but I think it's a stupid idea nonetheless. I see no practical reason, business or otherwise, for accepting Pesos in a pizza parlor, in Denver. Even with a large Hispanic population, the concentration of Pesos is likely minute, less than 0.01% I'd guess. It is simply not needed.