Category: Work Diaries

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funny Hot Dog Days My San Francisco Chronicles observation Work Diaries

"What does…’towed away’ mean?"

Yesterday during work, I realized I took an odd sense of amusement watching cars getting towed away behind me. Some people just don’t think to read the signs on the parking meters, stating “COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ONLY, 4am-6pm”. So some shmucks decide they would park there, only to later find either a ticket or their car towed away.

There were two cars parked illegally in those spots yesterday, and I was anticipating the tow trucks to arrive. And they did. Except, they only towed away one of the cars, which I found a little confusing. Still, I found myself standing there, feeling amused and slightly evil for finding amusement in someone else’s misery.

Oh, but it was a short-lived evil feeling. When I saw the owners of the towed-away car, they were Asian…worse, I think they were actually Japanese. One guy, a little meek yet cute looking, came up to me and asked, “Ah, excuse me, where did this…car…go?”

Me: “They towed it away.” (smile of pity)
Him: “Ah…what does…’towed away’ mean?”

This question made me feel even worse since he didn’t even comprehend the meaning of the phrase. So I had to think of a way to explain it so he could understand.

Me: “Well, it means…’they’ took your car away, because you are not allowed to park here. Only these (points at commercial vehicle behind me) are allowed to be parked here.”
Him: “Ah, okay.”

I’m not sure if he understood the situation at that point, but he ended up walking back to his two friends/colleagues and they in turn tried to figure out how to fix the situation.

Oh, I felt bad for them.

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Hot Dog Days My San Francisco Chronicles question weather Work Diaries

Fog Rolls On In.

Well, the warm temperatures are gone from the city as of today: when I woke up, there was fog (typical of San Francisco), and the temperatures were chillier, around 50 degrees in the morning. The afternoon did not seem to change much, staying around upper 50s/lower 60s.

This type of weather seemed to keep the crowds in today since the carts were all very slow with business; I actually only worked 3 hours today since the second vendor had already come in at noon and we definitely did not need two vendors at the cart. We made measly tips as well.

This got me wondering: What is the “perfect hot dog weather”? When do people feel the most in the mood to eat a hot dog? The warmer temperatures did not seem to draw the crowds in, at least not to the hot dogs; people more so ordered drinks or the soft frozen lemonade. The cooler temperatures do not bring in the customers as much as we’d like, either. So I don’t understand–when is the best time (weather-wise) to have a hot dog?

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Hot Dog Days My San Francisco Chronicles rant tourists Work Diaries

Chaos with the Cable Car

Today, for some reason, the Powell-Mason Cable Car line was not working, so that equaled crappy business for the hot dog cart. As a result as well, I got so many questions from frantic tourists who were wondering “Why or why were the cable cars not running?!” The MUNI Cable Car workers had a small sign up by the waiting area, but it was not noticeable enough. They kept their ticket booth open until 4pm, but that was that.

In many ways, they could have done more. Sure, perhaps these breakdowns happen frequently for them and they feel they do not need to answer tourists when tourists ask “Why is it not running?” But it’d help if they made the news more noticeable/public so people would not be left either standing there stupidly waiting for a nonexistent cable car to arrive or asking the same question over and over and over.

It became irritating near the end of the day; people wanted to know why it was not running, and you know what, I didn’t have the answer to that, and I probably never will since I do not even work with the cable car people. I feel like tourists assume that I gain this sort of information via osmosis, but sadly I have to burst their bubble on that idea.

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change life Work Diaries

Don’t stand still or you’ll get run over.

So this is how life goes; can’t be too comfortable anywhere or else I become bored and restless. Life throws another curveball at me, and I begin to wonder: how come none of this seems to happen to everyone else around me?

Everyone else seems complacent, holding steady. Meanwhile, once I become comfortable, another thing happens. It never ends, it seems.

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customers Hot Dog Days observation Work Diaries

"Can you please die?"

A guy approached the hot dog stand at work today and was talking on his phone; in the middle of his conversation, he asked me for a Diet Pepsi, so I immediately quoted the price to him: “1.50, please.” The guy’s eyes widened and he proceeded to comment on the exorbitant price to his friend, saying “I’m paying freaking $1.50 for a can of Diet Pepsi! Isn’t that insane?”

He then hands me his $20 bill, which I had to check for authenticity (it’s standard protocol for us to check all big bills). He continues to make commentary to his friend, saying “AND the girl is checking my $20 bill to make sure I didn’t make it just today! Oh my GOSH!” (Yes, the man was rather flamboyant). Finally, he gets off the phone and says to me, “Oh my gosh, can you die now?”

I gave him a look of shock, but I could tell he was joking (kind of…). Then he rambled on about the economy, talking about how, “How can you charge so much for a soda when the economy is in shambles?” And all I could say was “Well, I don’t set the prices, sir…” Then he ended on a nice/weird note, saying, “Well, I hope you will make A LOT of money with your cart…good location, by the way!”

And then he pranced off.