Today I received an amusing reply to my usual question at the hot dog stand when people order a hot dog–“Would you like sauerkraut on that?”
I asked a tall, stocky guy this question, and his response was:
“Oh, no. I’m German; I don’t want to be found out.”
Okay, the title might be a little bit off, but nonetheless, here’s some information that might be helpful for tourists or locals alike in San Francisco:
Along Jefferson Street in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, there’s a homeless/crazy man who hides behind several branches from a tree and scares people all day by “breaking through” the bush and screaming at whoever is unsuspecting. Not sure if he actually gets money for this, but hell, it brings a lot of attention to him.
My friend actually fell into the trap last October when we were walking along Jefferson Street. We weren’t paying attention, and all the sudden, the guy comes out from behind his branches and goes “WHOAOAOOAOAOOOAO!” at us; I just shook a little bit, but my friend screamed really loud. Little did we know that we had an audience watching us (other people walking by) and they were laughing at our reactions.
Today I was walking along and noticed a lot of people stopped at a stretch of the road; at first I thought these people were staring at the dancing tin-men (we have those over there, too). After a few minutes of trying to find what these people were staring at, I did see the man hiding behind his branches and chuckled to myself. The guy seems to have a captive audience now; I need to go and videotape him for Youtube.
Dear Female Customers,
I know you all probably look at the menu and think to yourselves “Gee, hot dogs, so fattening! I think I will be healthier and have a pretzel.”
I hate to break it to you, but a pretzel is probably unhealthier than a hot dog.
Think about it: all the pretzel is is salt (sodium, yikes!) and white bread. Simple carbs that aren’t easily broken down. No real nutrients. In addition, the salt will make you retain some water (i.e., you will feel bloated later).
Meanwhile, a hot dog at least will have some protein in it, and when you add some relish or onions or sauerkraut, you get some sort of vegetable servings.
So stop trying to kid yourself into thinking that the pretzel is healthier, because in reality, it really isn’t. I do believe a soft pretzel packs more calories than a jumbo hot dog (correct me if I’m wrong).
So anyway, what would you like to buy today? An unhealthy soft pretzel or a less-unhealthy hot dog?
Sincerely,
Your Favorite Hot Dog Vendor in San Francisco
After work today, I just remembered an amusing incident from yesterday’s shift:
I was working my last hour at the hot dog stand with a co-worker, and a guy approached our cart, looking like he was going to order something. After a minute, he approached my co-worker and asked, “Can I just have an ice cube?”
Co-worker’s response: “Err, okay…”
Man: “I am so thirsty but I don’t have enough money to buy a drink..”
Co-worker: “Oh, okay, sure dude.”
Reaches into the soda cart, gets an ice cube, and hands it to the guy.
Man: “Thanks dude, I’ll just suck on this.”
He walks away.
After that little episode, I chuckled a little to my co-worker. He smiled, shrugged, and said “Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.”