Friday Feb 8 2008
I’m stumped today… And here’s why:
Last summer Dallas based pizza chain “Pizza Patron” became the focus of U.S. news and water cooler chat nationwide when they announced that they would accept the Mexico peso. This sparked outrage and the obligatory torrent of negative comments of Mexicans, illegals, anchor babies, soft guv’mint, and electric fences. 109 pages. Count ‘em. And that’s just one site.
Backlash and death threats - all because a pizza place knew a certain percentage of the local populace carried pesos, and wanted their pesos in exchange for a pizza.
Yesterday several news outlets reported that more and more retail stores in New York are accepting and welcoming the Euro. Aside from a few tired “snobby French” comments this is happy news as it means tourists, and their tourist Euros flowing into the city.
I understand the issue of “accepting pesos” comes with the burden of immigration discussion - but I don’t understand WHY. Whether those purchasing pizza are here legally or not is not the pizza joint’s concern, nor a concern of a shop in New York. They have a business, and like the New York shops shoving Euros into the register they are simply opening up another conduit of business.
But why aren’t we in dire straits over THIS news? Don’t we care that some spending those Euros are students overstaying their VISAs? Aren’t we concerned that far more terror plots originate from Europe than from Mexico? No, we don’t care, because they aren’t Mexicans.
Is it possible to SEPARATE business issues from political concerns? Hell PAYPAL allows me to send money in 15 different currencies including the Polish Zlotych. No one’s up in arms about that. Uruguay happily accepts the Argentine Peso as many Argentineans frequent their coastal cities. Same deal with Montreal and the U.S. Dollar.
Good for New York for welcoming the Euro. It will foster an increase of business. And good for Pizza Patron for permanently accepting the Mexican Peso.
If we exist in a global economy where big business produces product en masse in China, BMWs and other imports roam our streets, and my calls are forwarded to India - then we shouldn’t bitch and complain when SMALL BUSINESS chooses to adopt the same international approach.
by James Van Dellen
February 8th, 2008 at 11:43 am
All great points. Major (or relevant) currencies should be accepted. The US *wants* people to spend money here, so why put up restrictions?
As for the Euro-bias, I’m afraid if there were millions of Danes here working hard to make a living it’d be a different story with the Euro as well.
I see this as a trend happening more and more…a weak dollar may actually help to make the US a more international-friendly place.