TACOS: No such thing as too many

I was quite dismayed to read Richard Ochoa’s Dec. 29 letter complaining about the prevalence of taco stands in our city. First, there is no such thing as too many tacos. Second, isn’t it one of the founding American principles to embrace and adopt the diversity the world has to offer? To let all those meats, cheeses, and seasonings simmer together in the great melting pot? If you ask me, we should consider re-writing Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” to incorporate this nation’s love for tacos, as follows:

Not like the brazen giant of fast-food fame,

With golden arches stretching ‘cross the land;

Here in our nation we accept those stands

The mighty trucks bearing food with the aim

To bring culinary delight of the name

The Taco. No utensil but the hand

Is needed to eat it; it shan’t be panned

By those who seek to assign to it blame.

“Keep your sandwiches, your salads!” cry we

With proud lips. “Give me shells of flour, corn,

Pollo, carne, and pescado with cheese,

Breakfast tacos for the day newly born.

Send these, the tastiest food group to me,

And if you don’t like it, well, there’s the door!”

LINDSEY SIMON

Coeur d’Alene