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Lou Dobbs a sit-com?

By Patrick Osio, Jr./HispanicVista.com

  January 28, 2007

 

  

 

Lou Dobbs a sit-com?

By Patrick Osio, Jr.

For those of us who have contact with people in other countries and in their own language, we must from time to time, put up with, “Why is there so much ignorance about other people in the US?” So I fully expected to get hit with the question again while during a telephone interview with a Mexico City company executive, he mentioned a CNN program, but instead of the expected question, he commented that there was little doubt but that in the US we have the best sit-com programs in the world.  The program? Lou Dobbs.

I chuckled at the idea. I think of Dobbs as an entertainer, never as a journalist, though he would very much like to be considered one. When he switched his money-advice program that was not going anywhere, over to far out exaggerations, accusations blaming the government of a sell out and illegal immigrants of all the other ills in the nation, his ranting won over an audience eager to find escape goats and “strangers” they could love to hate. I assumed then, as I do now, that Dobbs is an opportunistic entertainer driving ratings up.

I had never thought of Dobb’s program as a sit-com.  But by golly, the Mexican is right – it had better be a sit-com, as the alternative as to why Dobbs is popular would really mean there is a lot of ignorance.

Think about his last raving – a pizzeria in Texas is accepting Mexican pesos for payment! This is national news? This challenges our national sovereignty? This is a sell out? This encourages illegal immigration?

Come on, this is funny or really, really ignorant. Fortunately, the Mexican executive thought it funny. It was the joke of the day in his office and at lunch with some friends.

Dobbs has no intention of having his program viewed as a sit-com and that he is dead serious in thinking he found one more tidbit that will keep his ratings high. So the question really is – does he truly believe what he says?

Here is Dobbs sitting with that puffy patronizing look of disgust at the situation – pizza-for-pesos in the USofA of all places – how much more can the nation take? Where is our government in all this? How can Texans allow such repugnant business behavior? How can pizza be so desecrated? How many Mexicans will be motivated to cross into the US illegally so they can use their pesos instead of dollars?

If you don’t think that’s funny, then let’s take a look at the ignorance.

Foreigners come to the US on a daily basis, walk into a bank or money exchange service business and exchange their country’s money for dollars. So if they can, why can’t other businesses? There is no law prohibiting businesses from doing so.

Americans living along the border, be it Canada or Mexico, know that crossing from the US into either country they can use dollars instead of Canadian dollars or Mexican pesos. Businesses of all types accept dollars but at an exchange that is favorable to the business. Those businesses make a few extra cents or dollars by accepting US dollars.

The same goes for American businesses along either border. Canadians or Mexicans often use their currency to pay for goods or services at favorable to the businesses exchange rates. They too make a few cents or dollars on top of their sale. Foreign money is deposited in a US bank where credit is given to the business account based on that day’s exchange rate, so the bank makes money on the exchange rate. The customer who uses his country’s money is the one that pays the extra, not the business and most certainly not the US taxpayer.

The Texas pizzeria who accepted the pesos charged more in pesos than it would be paying in dollars. Say the pizza is $10 and that the peso to dollar exchange at a bank is $11 pesos for a dollar. The pizzeria charges the customer $14 pesos, $3 pesos over the exchange rate. He collects $140 pesos and when depositing in his bank is credited with $12.60 dollars. He made an extra $2.60 for accommodating a client who didn’t have dollars to pay. In the future, the client will either exchange his pesos into dollars at more favorable exchange rates before going to the pizzeria or continue to pay additionally for not doing so. 

So what’s it to be? Is Lou Dobbs a sit-com or is he really, really ignorant?

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Patrick Osio, Jr. is Editor of HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com). Contact at: Posiojr@aol.com

 

(The opinions expressed by Patrick Osio, Jr. are solely his and do not necessarily reflect those of HispanicVista.com, editorial board of advisors or it’s contributing writers.)

Patrick Osio, Jr. has written a short but intensive manual on the Mexican perspective on numerous issues between our two countries. The manual is an in depth primer on the culture and protocol for better understanding Mexicans that in turn allows establishing personal and business relationships, and how to avoid the most common faux pas that can ruin relationships and business deals.

The manual is available through Electronic delivery for $9.95 making it possible to download the manual for save on your hard drive, printing its entirety or particular sections while reaping considerable savings over printed copies.