There are lots of choices here. If I want something, say a kilo of potatoes, I can 1. Go to the store and get them.2. Call a store and have them deliver them. 3. Wait for them to come to me.

You see, there are these guys who go around selling things; all kinds of things, not just potatoes. I don’t know what to call them, they aren’t exactly street venders (I don’t think), but let’s call them that.

I haven’t bought anything from these venders, mostly because I try to ignore them when I hear them outside my window yelling their heads off. Secondly, I only happen to see them when I’m out walking Buzz, and it’s just too much to try to hold on to Buzz’s leash, (he’s ten pounds of “let’s go!”) carry the “warning stick” (other dogs back off) and usually a book. (I’ve found a nice little park-type-thing that’s like our own private dog park. It’s always empty and enclosed with a fence, so I can let Buzz free range for a few minutes each day while I read.) Point being, my hands are too full to carry money or random street vegetables.

One thing I noticed and wondered about was explained to me the other day. There are different guys for different things. The mango-man, he’s seasonal as is the jack-fruit lady. Then there’s the regular veggies guy, the plastics guy, the trinkets guy, and the occasional blankets or fabric guys and the paper guy (who, make note, is not selling paper, but buying it, or collecting it, don’t know which.) I didn’t wonder about any of these guys as they pushed their carts around the neighborhood yelling about their wares.

They all yell different things (obviously, it would be nonsense for the mango man to go around yelling “paper!”) But aside from the paper guy, they yell in another language, so I don’t know what they are saying, I only assume it is something about stuff on their carts.

Some of them have the tone of “Bring out your dead!” And that image makes me happy. When I hear the “Bring out your dead!” guy I don’t look to see who he is, because I like to imagine a muddy English man pushing a cart of dead people. Some of them sound like, (tone/melody mind you, not words) “Peanuts! Get your fresh roasted peanuts!” Some of them sound like auctioneers and others just sound really annoying, especially when I’ve gotten home from work at 3am and they are outside yelling at 9am.
“Blast you veggies man!”

I’ve diverted. What I wondered about was why is there a veggies man and a separate onion and garlic man? Why don’t they join forces? (And make one mega cart?)

Well, from what I understand some people here don’t eat onions or garlic; on religious purposes and/or because onions and garlic are considered aphrodisiacs. I never knew that about onions and garlic. I mean, generally Americans try to avoid the person who had onions and garlic for lunch, not because they don’t want to be entrapped by lust, but because they stink!