City street vendors take a hit during summer season

Before the hot dog bun or street stand, Homer's "Odyssey" spoke to the joy of encased meat in 9th Century B.C.E. \nHot dog sales on Bloomington streets, however, runs frigid as the summer temperature and humidity rises.\nAbout 300 hot dogs are sold per night on any given weekend throughout the school year, about 150 wieners more than a May through August weekend night. \nHot Dogg Heaven owns all three wiener carts often planted in front of or nearby the busiest Bloomington bars, depending on the musical act playing or the advertised drink specials. The company has been a Bloomington business for about 20 years, although the current owners purchased Hot Dogg Heaven about five years ago. \nLeslie, a four-year Hot Dogg Heaven vendor who asked to have her last name withheld for security reasons, said she believes summer business at her stand decreases because the student demographic is replaced by local crowds with less disposable incomes. She sells about 100 hot dogs a night during the school year -- not including brats or polish sausages -- 50 wieners more than during the summer months.\n"I'm pleasantly surprised how nice people are, behavior you can't expect in other situations," Leslie said while tidying her hot dog stand in front of the Bluebird. "It is a nice exchange of goodwill -- instant food right in front of their eyes and real life situations happening right in front of my eyes. Humans do funny things, especially when they dabble in alcohol."\nLeslie sells wieners two or three nights a week to supplement her income as a teacher's assistant. Hot Dogg Heaven pays its vendors about $5 an hour plus customer tips. \nHot dog vendor Matt Berry, an eight-year Hot Dogg Heaven employee, said wiener sales at his hot dog cart further decrease throughout the summer due to continued student travel from Bloomington. He said he sells about 75 hot dogs during the school year, about 40 more than during the summer. Berry said decreased sales will force his hot dog cart out of commission before the second summer session begins. \n"I always smile and try to be attentive to what the customer wants. I am not afraid to say I'm sorry," he said while adjusting the Bunsen burners heating the wieners in front of Kilroy's on Kirkwood. "This is food service built around the second word -- service. There is a myth that the bar patron is irritable or an aggressive person. I get grit teeth occasionally, but most people just want to have fun and keep the fun for everyone else -- simple pleasures with a little bit of food."\nBerry said he eats one hot dog a week so he can "keep in constant contact with the product."\nHot dog vendor Larry, a seven-year Hot Dogg Heaven employee who asked to have his last name withheld for security reasons, said he believes business at his hot dog stand has decreased since the November presidential election due to "republican economics." He also cited a heavier excise presence at the bars at reason for decreased wiener sales.\n"Hot dogs are an impulse buy like entertainment," he said while serving hungry customers in front of Kilroy's Sports Bar late Saturday night. "If the economy is doing well, entertainment does well. I typically sell about 100 hot dogs a night, but sales at my stand are down by one-third since the fall." \nLarry said hot dog vendors are not servants or second class citizens, but more like hot dog peddlers. \nHot Dogg Heaven's biggest revenue-generating nights occur during IU festival weekends: the first week of each semester, homecoming, Little 500 and graduation. All the vendors said hot dog buying droughts often occur holiday weekends, school vacations and early-weekday nights. \nLeslie thanked all her patrons for their general kindness, despite the decrease in summer wiener sales, because she is often in the frontlines of drunken fist fights and bar brawls that spill into the street. She cited examples of tip jar theft, in which an entire night's salary was stolen, as further proof of the trench-warfare like conditions hot dog vendors sometimes face when selling their products to otherwise inebriated patrons. \n"It takes a certain amount of temperament to do this job. You have to let certain things roll off your back -- let certain things go," she said while tightening the slack from the bungee cords securing her tip jar to her hot dog cart. "What I try to (do) is see where the customer is coming from. People go to great lengths to thank me -- they serenade me, dance for me, give me presents"