# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/141 "2017-03-23T12:42:07Z")
Especially if they are Mexican cats. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/142 "2017-03-23T12:58:49Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > My brother wrote a Yahtzee game for the computer years ago. Freeware. People sent him money. I always wondered if they would, and they did. And if he had decided to sell it rather than make it freeware, people would have pirated the heck out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/143 "2017-03-23T13:05:07Z")
I’m reminded of [an article](https://theestablishment.co/your-calls-for-unity-are-divisive-as-f-ck-3d6584bca72f#.begezrgjz) I read recently that started with an analogy to slavery, then continued by saying: > [@](#): > > I try to avoid comparing contemporary racism to slavery in order to make a point, but American slavery is literally the only thing white people seem to agree is racist aside from B.E.T. And even slavery gets romanticized and downplayed with startling frequency. Shit, man, I saw people claiming that there was nothing racist about what JonTron said in that debate with Destiny - a debate where he spouted fake statistics about black crime, claimed that there were enclaves of hispanics in the US who are trying to convert pieces of America in Mexico, and said that there was no more discrimination in the west. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/144 "2017-03-23T17:12:17Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > What does \*\*octopus \*\*say if you blow in his ear? > “Thanks for the refill!” > > What do you get when you offer \*\*octopus \*\*a penny for his thoughts? > Change. > > How do you keep **octopus** busy all day? > Put him in a round room and tell him to sit in the corner. > They really transfer seamlessly, don’t they? Speciesist. ---
**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 23, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/145 "2017-03-23T22:04:50Z")
The neighbors across the street have all manner of miscellaneous stuff on their porch, including - and I SWEAR I’m not making this up- what appears to be a plastic food tray and a calico cat is laying on top of it. If I knew how to zoom with my phone (and post photos for that matter) I would post it right this minute. This is the biggest giggle I’ve gotten all day. ---
**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 24, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/146 "2017-03-24T05:13:17Z")
> [@Azeotrope](#): > > > [@jsgoddess](#): > > > > My brother wrote a Yahtzee game for the computer years ago. Freeware. People sent him money. I always wondered if they would, and they did. > > And if he had decided to sell it rather than make it freeware, people would have pirated the heck out of it. More likely, he would’ve been sued into oblivion by Milton-Bradley. Who I heard eat parakeets. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/147 "2017-03-24T05:23:21Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Yeah, and like I said upthread, real life Mexicans _in Mexico_ express this same concern. Some people can only see race, some people view us as all part of one human culture. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/148 "2017-03-24T08:59:10Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Yeah, and like I said upthread, real life Mexicans _in Mexico_ express this same concern. The expression is general for Spanish, and it refers to every instance of what’s called “bait and switch” in English. ---
**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 24, 2017, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/149 "2017-03-24T11:53:38Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > The expression is general for Spanish, and it refers to every instance of what’s called “bait and switch” in English. Oh, I didn’t mean the cat for hare thing, but the running joke in Mexico that the taqueria is using stray animals for meat. ---
**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 24, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/150 "2017-03-24T14:03:54Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Oh, I didn’t mean the cat for hare thing, but the running joke in Mexico that the taqueria is using stray animals for meat. I think in the U.S. the go to animal for this joke is horse. At the moment the only specific example I can think of is the I Love Lucy episode where the Ricardos and the Mertzes opened a diner and a crack about the quality of the meat was something like “you can eat it at night and bet on it during the day”. Hasn’t insulting the quality of a restaurant, regardless of what type of food they serve, by implying that the meat is cat / dog / horse/ road kill, whatever, been a thing in the U.S. for a long, long time? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/151 "2017-03-24T14:06:23Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Hasn’t insulting the quality of a restaurant, regardless of what type of food they serve, by implying that the meat is cat / dog / horse/ road kill, whatever, been a thing in the U.S. for a long, long time? I’m perplexed if you think this means it can’t ever be racist? Do you think racism was invented yesterday? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/152 "2017-03-24T14:42:13Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Hasn’t insulting the quality of a restaurant, regardless of what type of food they serve, by implying that the meat is cat / dog / horse/ road kill, whatever, been a thing in the U.S. for a long, long time? I don’t think it’s unique to the US. Every country has a similar urban legend. ---
**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 24, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/153 "2017-03-24T14:49:21Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’m perplexed if you think this means it can’t ever be racist? Do you think racism was invented yesterday? I don’t think it _can’t_ ever be racist. I just don’t think it _always is._ ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/154 "2017-03-24T16:08:05Z")
Now I’m wondering: If a white person opens a Mexican restaurant and someone makes a crack that it serves strays is it racist? If a Mexican American opens an burger place and someone says it serves strays, is it racist? How about a white person opening a burger place? Is it the person who owns the restaurant, the people who work at the restaurant or the type of food they make that defines the racism? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/155 "2017-03-24T16:12:02Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t think it _can’t_ ever be racist. I just don’t think it _always is._ Because it’s been around for a long time and racism can’t be long standing? ---
**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 24, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/156 "2017-03-24T16:21:59Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Because it’s been around for a long time and racism can’t be long standing? No, because it’s been aimed at different kinds of restaurants. I would expect that most times it just means the restaurant is shitty, irrespective of the ethnicity of the proprietor. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/157 "2017-03-24T16:32:30Z")
We never established the “ethnicity of the proprietor” it was assumed the proprietor was Mexican because **LHOD** assumes only Mexicans can own shitty Mexican restaurants. ---
**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 24, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/158 "2017-03-24T16:39:50Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > We never established the “ethnicity of the proprietor” it was assumed the proprietor was Mexican because **LHOD** assumes only Mexicans can own shitty Mexican restaurants. :rolleyes: You sure got me there. Is there like a secret contest on another board to see who can come up with the stupidest defense of watchwolf’s comment? Because if there is, I am fucking elated not to be the judge. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/159 "2017-03-24T16:48:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > :rolleyes: You sure got me there. > > Is there like a secret contest on another board to see who can come up with the stupidest defense of watchwolf’s comment? Because if there is, I am fucking elated not to be the judge. I’m sticking with the “Burger King” defense as the dumbest. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680/160 "2017-03-24T17:29:03Z")
Just what level of racism is it? Hanged slaves? Fire hoses spraying black demonstrators? Segregating black from white audiences in movie theaters? The N word? Blacks calling each other the N word? Canadians mocked for saying “eh”? If you look for potential racism in every corner, you’ll find it in varying degrees, because humans are by nature clannish and wary of foreign clans. You’re applying a broad brush of equating questionable quality of a greasy spoon’s food to KKK grand dragons. You’re saying “this person says absolutely nothing of worth, because he told a joke that was potentially racist.” Don’t you hate it when the conservatives use that logic on you? “Your ideas and values are worthless because you advocated non-Christian and unAmerican ideology.” Nobody’s perfect. Allow for some kind of latitude, and maybe Trump won’t get re-elected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mexican-restaurants-dont-serve-stray-cats/782680.md?page=9)