Pesos in the pools: a loco idea?
A post from last week about the great weather in Houston (sorry I jinxed it) inspired this unexpected response from an anonymous reader: "Alright, you sold me on the weather ... but are they accepting pesos at the windows yet? Might not be a bad idea considering the ton of backstretch help that hail from south of the border."
I thought that was pretty interesting. Then the next day I came across this article in the Houston Chronicle...
Pizza parlor takes pesos--and flak
It's about Pizza Patron, the Dallas-based Pizza chain that recently began accepting pesos, a logical business move that provoked outrage from all corners of our prejudiced nation. The story quotes several letters from angry Americans who find this development threatening and even unpatriotic. But I haven't seen any outrage over all the northern border cities that accept Canadian dollars, like Niagara Falls, which must be as unpatriotic as a town can be, what with its decades-long tradition of accepting the currency of two different nations.
(By the way, I want to point out that the article says the angry letters to Pizza Patron were not coming from Texans, but from states less familiar with Mexican citizens).
In any case, as I read this depressing Chronicle article I thought back to that message on this blog and wondered, hmm, why not accept pesos at Texas tracks? Our neighbors to the south have a huge passion for racehorses, and they make up a significant portion of the fanbase, not to mention the backstretch workforce. As the Pizza Patron customer in the Chronicle says, a lot of Mexicans (and, I imagine, a lot of Mexican-Americans, and Americans) cross the border with pesos they never bother to exchange. Seeing as I've yet to find a racetrack that doesn't like to increase their handle, how about a window where you can wager with pesos, or at least change your currency?
In Vegas you can exchange just about any currency known to man. Texas, of all places, especially in international cities like Houston and Dallas, should lead the way in accommodating foreign fans and foreign currency.
I realize the whole idea is little more than wishful thinking in today's climate (not sure the Dallas suburb of Famers Branch would care for it much), but like Jeff Tweedy would say, where would we be without wishful thinking?
I thought that was pretty interesting. Then the next day I came across this article in the Houston Chronicle...
Pizza parlor takes pesos--and flak
It's about Pizza Patron, the Dallas-based Pizza chain that recently began accepting pesos, a logical business move that provoked outrage from all corners of our prejudiced nation. The story quotes several letters from angry Americans who find this development threatening and even unpatriotic. But I haven't seen any outrage over all the northern border cities that accept Canadian dollars, like Niagara Falls, which must be as unpatriotic as a town can be, what with its decades-long tradition of accepting the currency of two different nations.
(By the way, I want to point out that the article says the angry letters to Pizza Patron were not coming from Texans, but from states less familiar with Mexican citizens).
In any case, as I read this depressing Chronicle article I thought back to that message on this blog and wondered, hmm, why not accept pesos at Texas tracks? Our neighbors to the south have a huge passion for racehorses, and they make up a significant portion of the fanbase, not to mention the backstretch workforce. As the Pizza Patron customer in the Chronicle says, a lot of Mexicans (and, I imagine, a lot of Mexican-Americans, and Americans) cross the border with pesos they never bother to exchange. Seeing as I've yet to find a racetrack that doesn't like to increase their handle, how about a window where you can wager with pesos, or at least change your currency?
In Vegas you can exchange just about any currency known to man. Texas, of all places, especially in international cities like Houston and Dallas, should lead the way in accommodating foreign fans and foreign currency.
I realize the whole idea is little more than wishful thinking in today's climate (not sure the Dallas suburb of Famers Branch would care for it much), but like Jeff Tweedy would say, where would we be without wishful thinking?
posted by Jimbo @ 1/16/2007 10:52:00 PM
1 Comments:
At 1/17/2007 9:05 AM,
Anonymous said…
I think the idea has merit. Regardless of where one stands on the immigrant social security debate or border fences... it's an obvious fact that racing could not exist without our Latino friends' help. Why not let 'em bet w/ Pesos?
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