The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council reports that Americans eat approximately 2 billion pounds of hot dogs every year, with 150 million pounds consumed during the July 4th weekend alone.
Who cares about all that processed meat you might ask? Your local hot dog vendor does, and if you haven't checked out a University kiosk lately then you might have missed a golden opportunity to enter the world of cart vending.
"YANKEE DOGS NOW HIRING," states the flyer decorated with a sketch of a hot dog cart. Declared the "ultimate summer job," the flyer stood out from the "Honda Civic for sale" and "Hard-rocking drummer needed" ads.
As the manager of Austin's Yankee Dogs, Tommy Mellet is a veteran of the hot-dog vending world, which by his estimate is approximately 15 months - the length of time he's been in the Wiener business. Workers can expect to make a little more than $10 an hour plus tips.
His favorite part of the job is the interaction with hundreds of people everyday, he says, but he has a definite preference on when he works. Tommy vends to sober customers when he works during the day outside of Austin stores; he said one of his favorites is Lowe's.
"I prefer working next to a store during the day when everyone is sober. It makes it easier," Tommy said.
On Sixth Street in the evenings and early mornings, he encounters a more "difficult" kind of crowd, Tommy said. Dumb, impatient, rowdy and downright obnoxious were words Tommy used to describe many of his night customers.
Though sometimes working nights with inebriated customers has its benefits as well.
In addition to making more money at night, Tommy said other perks include women occasionally flashing him to try to get free hot dogs.
Big-rollers like to show off by bribing bouncers for quicker admittance to clubs, but the hot dog vendors can get in on that action, too. "One night when the line for my stand was about 50 people long, a man gave me $100 to cut to the front," Tommy said.
"Vending is the fun part. All of the work is done outside of the streets," he said. Hot dog vendors work alone and consequently are required by law to be a certified food manager. Yankee Dog vendors must endure an eight-hour training seminar and thoroughly clean and maintain their carts daily to stay in health law compliance.
"My biggest advice for potential hot dog buyers is to check that a cart has all of the proper tags and inspection stickers," warns Tommy, because "What you put in is what you get out. A vendor needs to take pride in his stand," he elaborated.
As for those drunk chicks who waved around their breasts for free food; if there were any doubts, yes, they got their hot dogs.
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