Dallas-based pizza chain under fire for taking pesos
DALLAS ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ A pizza chain has been hit with death threats and hate mail after offering to accept Mexican pesos, becoming another flashpoint in the nation’s debate over immigrants…. “If people would understand that the majority of our customers are Hispanic, then it might make more sense for a company to sell pizza for pesos,” Gamm said. “It doesn’t make sense in Connecticut. And it doesn’t make sense in North Dakota or in Maine. But it makes perfect sense here in Dallas, in Phoenix, in Denver ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ areas far from the border that have significant Hispanic populations.”
A couple days ago, I wrote about Pizza Patron, a chain of pizza restaurants based in Dallas that announced it would accept Mexican pesos as payment. Given the emotionally-charged atmosphere surrounding the issue of illegal immigration, I expected that there would be some folks upset by anything designed to make things easier for Brown People. After all, there is a significant segment of the (White) Population for whom Brown People equal illegal immigration. For far too many Americans, Brown People are responsible for every ill currently plaguing our great nation. That this is patently false and merely an example of ignorant racism seems lost on some folks.
The vast majority of Brown People are in this country legally, but since “they all look alike”, it’s much simpler, easier, and far more efficient to just hate them wholesale. Lost in the hullaballoo is the fact that Pizza Patron’s pesos-for-pizza idea has nothing to do with the immigration debate. It has everything to do with the reality that Hispanics are the company’s target market, which in a state like Texas only makes sense. If you cater to Hispanics, why wouldn’t you do everything possible to make it as easy as possible for them to spend their money on your products?
I grew up in northern Minnesota, about an hour and a half south of the Canadian border. At that time, and it may still be true, you could use Canadian coins in cigarette machines and pop (“soda” or “Coke” to you native Texans). No one said “Boo” about that…likely because Canadians look like us (they’re White, and therefore safe).
Pizza Patron proclaims on its Web site that “to serve the Hispanic community is our passion.” Its restaurants are in mostly Hispanic neighborhoods, and each manager must be bilingual and live nearby, said Pizza Patron founder Antonio Swad, who is part-Italian, part-Lebanese.
The take-home menus are in both English and Spanish, and the dishes include the La Mexicana pizza, with spicy chorizo sausage; La Barbacoa pizza, topped with spicy pulled pork; and chicken wings flavored with lime, peppers and garlic con queso.
Many Pizza Patron customers have pesos “sitting in their sock drawers or in their wallets,” Gamm said. “We’re talking small amounts, where it would be inconvenient to stop and exchange on the way back ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ maybe 10 or 20 dollars’ worth of pesos.”
The promotion will run through the end of February and then be re-evaluated, Swad said.
In the first week, payments in pesos have accounted for about 10 percent of business at the five restaurants operated by the corporation, Pizza Patron said. The others are franchised, and the company will not get reports until the end of the week.
What I find so disturbing about this scenario is the avalanche of hatred being focused on Pizza Patron for merely trying to take care of their customers. Would that more businesses displayed this sort of creativity. In the case of Pizza Patron, they’re letting their target market know that they value their business and are willing to to what it takes to continue to earn that business. Since when is the idea of taking care of your customers an evil, anti-American plot designed to undermine Our Way of Life © ?
Truth be told, most Americans don’t mind Brown People at all…as long as when they’re done collecting our garbage or mowing our lawns they simply disappear until the next time their services are required. We want their cheap labor, we benefit from it in many aspects of our day to day lives…but when they’re done servicing our needs, we’d all be better off if the Brown People just disappeared. They don’t look, talk, believe, or act like us…so why should we have to look at them when they’re not working for us?
Of course, the fact that these are human beings we’re talking about seems almost beside the point. Most Americans…and seemingly a majority of Texans…simply cannot reconcile themselves to the fact that the Brown People are human beings and not just a source of cheap, plentiful, voiceless labor.
If you’re wondering why Pizza Patron came up with this program, this ought to give you an idea:
At a Pizza Patron in Dallas, Veronica Verges bought a pizza Wednesday for her son Nathan’s fourth birthday. She paid with pesos her father brought home two weeks ago after a trip to see family in Mexico.
She said she is an occasional Pizza Patron customer, but came that day because she could pay with pesos. Her father wasn’t going to use them because he had no plans to go back to Mexico anytime soon.
“I would mostly think a restaurant would do this in a border town,” she said. “But it got me over here.”
It’s not about supporting illegal immigration, or about threatening Our Way of Life © . It’s about a business trying to find ways to take care of their customers in a hypercompetitive marketplace dominated by multinational conglomerates.
For those of you who simply refuse to face facts, I have an of a place you’re going to love. It’s called Idaho…and they just LOVE ignorant, Amerika uber alles White zealots like yourself. If you’re going to live here in Texas, you’d best get used to the idea of being surrounded by Brown People. After all, Mexico is only a 5 1/2 drive from downtown Seabrook. Most of the Brown People here are good and decent people simply trying to make a living that simply isn’t available to them south of the border. Yes, some of the Brown People are here illegally, and that is not a good thing…but isn’t it interesting that people seem to think that illegals are by definition Brown? By definition, White folks can’t be illegal…right??
Frankly, I wish we had a Pizza Patron location here. I think I’d order a pizza or six tonight…and I might even pay for it in pesos, just to show my support and to piss off those ignorant hate-filled White folks who refuse to tolerate anything but their own prejudice and self-interest.
Jeebus, people…lighten up, willya? It’s a business decision, not another salvo in the Brown People’s evil campaign against Our Way of Life © .
