# Mexican restaurants don't serve stray cats. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 21, 2017, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680 "2017-03-21T10:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/1 "2017-03-21T10:53:54Z")
In an otherwise fine thread, **watchwolf** dropped this turd: > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/132): > > If my favorite Mexican restaurant put up a sign “No Whities” … I’d still go in and hope they serve me … the other place across town is strangely devoid of local stray cats … and that worries me to be honest … I pointed out that it’s an old, unoriginal, stupid, racist joke. Thought we were done here. Now, **watchwolf** is annoying, both with the dumb things he writes, and with his diarrhetic use of ellipses. But to his credit, he didn’t come back and throw a stampy-foot tantrum over “THAT WASN’T RACIST!” like I half-expected him to. No, for that we needed **octopus** and **Shagnasty**. First, octopus straight-up denies there’s anything racist about it. Why? > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/200): > > Mexican isn’t even a so-called “race.” It’s a nationality. Then **Shagnasty** comes in thinking his racist grandpa act is gonna be educational. Just watch! > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/212): > > Why is that racist? It is a simple fact that dog and cat meat is commonly used in some Asian countries especially southern China. Horse meat is common in Europe. “Bush meat” including chimps and monkeys are used all over the world. Even cannibalism was practiced within living memory and can still be found in some areas. > > I can see it being an insult if someone is talking about a strip-mall American Chinese restaurant but it may be perfectly accurate if they are actually in China. Not everyone has the same attitudes about animals and meat sources that Americans do. > > It has nothing to do with race. It is about location, legality and culturally sanctioned meat sources which are fairly arbitrary. > > [Dog meat - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat) I’ll cut the paragraph he cribbed from Wikipedia there at the end–enough to know he thought quoting Wikipedia’s bit about how dogs are eaten in Southern China would be enough to make watchwolf’s shitty joke about Mexicans eating stray cats not racist. I tried to help them understand: > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/209): > > no, Mexican isn’t a race. I know that. Congratulations! Neither is “Kenyan,” but if someone drew a picture of Obama’s Kenyan grandfather with a bone through his nose and a pot full of missionaries, I’d call it racist. And neither is “Chinese,” but if someone writes about a Chinese restaurant serving stray dogs, I’ll recognize it as racist. Octopus, at least, gets the picture. Oh wait no he doesn’t: > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/214): > > It’s not racist if Chinese eat cats or if Kenyans eat missionaries. Those would be facts if they are indeed factual. Do you know that racism doesn’t mean a comment or a joke that LHoD or some other random person doesn’t like? And **Shagnasty** , man. **Shagnasty** : > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/216): > > There are no gyrations. It is just a joke based on reality. I am a Louisianan living in the North. People sometimes make jokes to me about eating alligators, squirrels and even road kill. My response is to say “Oh, hell yeah!” (especially to the alligator). It is awesome and I am not happy that I can’t get it easily anymore. It is no more racist than saying that people in Maine eat moose because many of them do. > > You are letting your own bias show. There is nothing inherently wrong with eating a deer versus a cat. It is just the former is perfectly acceptable in U.S. culture while the latter is not. > > Double-dog pro-tip (no pun intended) - people don’t literally think that Asian people in the U.S. serve Fido and Fluffy in mainstream Chinese restaurants. It is just a cultural joke that isn’t meant to be taken seriously. Got that? I’m the real racist for thinking it’s racist. Burn! What I don’t understand is that the joke wasn’t racist, it was just a joke based on cultural stereotypes that portray Asians and Latinos as violating cultural taboos (and being underhanded about it). How could I possibly confuse that with racism? **Bone** stops it there, so I’m continuing it here. **Shagnasty** ends with something that’s a little poignant and a little eye-rolly: > [@Question for Democrats - Restaurant exclusion sign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-democrats-restaurant-exclusion-sign/782543/226): > > I have a reason to make statements against "Racist!’ and “Sexist!” rhetoric. My own young daughters are doing it now even though they have no idea what those words actually mean. I have to constantly explain that recognizing any cultural difference isn’t sexist or racist. It just means that someone grew up somewhere that isn’t Massachusetts including me. They can sort of understand it but not completely. So, uh, yeah, **Shagnasty**. If your own kids are getting sick of your sexist and racist bullshit, you absolutely have the option of condescending to them and continuing on in your asshole ways. Lots of parents have made that same choice as you, deciding not to listen to what their kids are saying. It doesn’t go well for them, and while I’m just fine with things not going well for you in this regard, I feel bad for your kids. In case anyone has any doubt: yes, you fools, it’s racist to make jokes about how Mexican or Chinese restaurants are rounding up stray cats and dogs to put in their food. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/2 "2017-03-21T11:07:41Z")
I’m confused – isn’t it Vietnamese who eat cats? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/3 "2017-03-21T11:10:03Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I’m confused – isn’t it Vietnamese who eat cats? No, doofus: since black people like watermelon (I left that Shagnasty bit out, too many to choose from), Mexicans serve stray cats at their restaurants to white people. Or something. If you’re not following their logic, don’t feel bad, for the same reason you shouldn’t feel bad for not understanding your pet hamster’s sonnet. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/4 "2017-03-21T11:34:36Z")
I have no dog in this fight. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/5 "2017-03-21T11:44:27Z")
Lots of restaurants here serve stray cats. They have food and water bowls out front and everything. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/6 "2017-03-21T12:00:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I have no dog in this fight. Jose made a burrito out of him? A _currito_! [QUOTE=buddha\_david] I’m confused – isn’t it Vietnamese who eat cats? [/QUOTE] First thing I thought of. I’ve never heard any jokes about Mexican restaurants putting anything er, \*unconventional \*in the food. Actually, I wouldn’t have even understood that’s what **watchwolf49** was getting at. For that matter, even if he’d been talking about an Asian restaurant it still would have been too nonsensical to be funny or offensive. Did anyone else thing this thread was going to be related to the one about people bringing their dogs to the bank? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/7 "2017-03-21T12:11:23Z")
The cat population in Paris reportedly dropped dramatically during the Nazi occupation. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/8 "2017-03-21T12:25:29Z")
So mixing your racist stereotypes cancels out the racism? If you make a joke about an Asian restaurant serving cat meat, it’s racist. But if you make a joke about a Mexican restaurant serving cat meat, it’s not racist because eating cats is not a Mexican stereotype. Got it. Damn, being a bigot is complicated. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/9 "2017-03-21T12:36:27Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > So mixing your racist stereotypes cancels out the racism? If you make a joke about an Asian restaurant serving cat meat, it’s racist. But if you make a joke about a Mexican restaurant serving cat meat, it’s not racist because eating cats is not a Mexican stereotype. Got it. > > Damn, being a bigot is complicated. Excellent post/username combo! ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/10 "2017-03-21T12:40:15Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I have no dog in this fight. Are you saying my opinion doesn’t count!?!?!? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/11 "2017-03-21T12:42:15Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > **So mixing your racist stereotypes cancels out the racism?** If you make a joke about an Asian restaurant serving cat meat, it’s racist. But if you make a joke about a Mexican restaurant serving cat meat, it’s not racist because eating cats is not a Mexican stereotype. Got it. > > Damn, being a bigot is complicated. In my opinion, yes. Isn’t the basis of racism stereotypes? The old joke (in America) is that Asian restaurants serve dogs and cats. I personally don’t know anyone who actually believes it, that’s just the stereotype. As far as I know there is no old joke about Mexicans putting dogs and cats in their food so the reference has no connection to . . . well, anything. It may be disparaging to imply a restaurant serves domestic animals but that doesn’t make it racist. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/12 "2017-03-21T12:45:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The cat population in Paris reportedly dropped dramatically during the Nazi occupation. _[Ja](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity%27s_Rainbow), ja, ja, ja, In Prussia they never eat pussy! There ain’t hardly cats enough, There’s garbage and that’s enough, So waltz me around again Russky!_ ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Sanchez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rick\_Sanchez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Sanchez)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/13 "2017-03-21T12:57:19Z")
In fairness to **watchwolf** , he actually wrote: > [@](#): > > If my favorite Mexican restaurant put up a sign “No Whities” … I’d still go in and hope they serve me … _ **THE OTHER PLACE ACROSS TOWN** _ is strangely devoid of local stray cats … and that worries me to be honest … So he’s not talking about his favourite Mexican restaurant. The “other place across town” could be another Mexican restaurant, or it could be a Burger King. He never specifies. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/14 "2017-03-21T13:01:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Lots of restaurants here serve stray cats. They have food and water bowls out front and everything. So does the thread title imply that we can’t have that \*Lady and the Tramp-like scene where the Mexican restauranteurs set out a table for the romantic cat couple, and when they eat the Mouse Taco they both unknowingly both suck up the tail from opposite ends until their cat-lips meet? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/15 "2017-03-21T13:06:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > So does the thread title imply that we can’t have that \*Lady and the Tramp-like scene where the Mexican restauranteurs set out a table for the romantic cat couple, and when they eat the Mouse Taco they both unknowingly both suck up the tail from opposite ends until their cat-lips meet? I would love to see that (as long as the mouse is still alive and gets to pop out of the cat’s mouth and scamper away)! ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/16 "2017-03-21T13:11:30Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > In my opinion, yes. Isn’t the basis of racism stereotypes? The old joke (in America) is that Asian restaurants serve dogs and cats. I personally don’t know anyone who actually believes it, that’s just the stereotype. As far as I know there is no old joke about Mexicans putting dogs and cats in their food so the reference has no connection to . . . well, anything. It may be disparaging to imply a restaurant serves domestic animals but that doesn’t make it racist. Arabs are so lazy! No, no, it’s not racist, because it’s black people and Mexicans who are lazy, see? It doesn’t really matter what the details are, when your comments can be distilled down to: “Those people of a different cohort do [something seen as backwards/culturally inappropriate/scorn-worthy]” you are absolutely insulting that group. You can argue whether it’s racist, culture-ist, or whatever if that floats your boat, but bottom line is that you’ve stuck your middle finger up at that group of people. **octopus** and **Shagnasty** ’s lame attempts to argue that “well, if some Mexican restaurant somewhere serves stray cats, then it’s just a matter of honest concern to wonder about a random Mexican restaurant’s cat-serving policy,” are dishonest at best. Let’s take **octopus** ’s assertion that Missionaries are a regular menu item in Kenya. Even if that were true, going into the home of a Kenyan and saying, “har har, you’re not going to eat me, are you?” would be an asshole-ish thing to do in the extreme. As would doing so out of earshot (aka being an asshole without getting caught). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/17 "2017-03-21T13:12:07Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] In case anyone has any doubt: yes, you fools, it’s racist to make jokes about how Mexican or Chinese restaurants are rounding up stray cats and dogs to put in their food. [/QUOTE] Umm, having lived in Mexico nearly five years, _Mexicans_ make jokes about restaurants using dog meat instead of beef/pork/chicken. And, let’s see, “dar gato por liebre” kind of implies they have the same worries about cat meat. My ex-sister-in-law works for _Salubridad_ in the state of Guanajuato as an inspector. Although she’s never reported the use of cats, she regularly reported the bad habits of Chinese restaurant owners (who are usually Chinese, incidentally). Culturally among low-class, uneducated Chinese there’s not much of a sense of food hygiene. Oh, I’ve also lived five years in China. _Chinese_ make jokes about restaurants using cat meat, and they readily acknowledge that there’s also the attitude of “I’m smarter than you and you’re stupid so I’ll give you cat and not spend money on pork.” Chinese don’t usually joke about dog meat, though, because it’s too expensive (it’s a delicacy outside of dog-eating regions). It seems a little SJW-ish to attribute things to racism that intend no harm, that cause no harm, and is repeated frequently by the alleged victims themselves in any case. Except the word nigger. You can never use that word unless demonstrably, or unless you’re black. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/18 "2017-03-21T13:18:58Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Lots of restaurants here serve stray cats. They have food and water bowls out front and everything. _I don’t bother chasing mice around…_ ---
**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/19 "2017-03-21T13:22:42Z")
Roof-hare jokes are as old as Methusalem. Maybe even dating back to Bastet. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/20 "2017-03-21T13:36:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I have no dog in this fight. Cat got your tongue? pres on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680.md?page=2)