Thriving? The ‘ little guy’ keeps it going
I’m taking a break from the hard stuff this week to write the type of column I normally don’t write.
Ordinarily, I don’t walk around and talk to people; rather, I prefer to observe what they are doing and let the story come to me.
But sometimes, inspiration for a column comes from ordinary things I see while looking out the window while riding public transportation.
And in this case, it was a guy on the street entertaining people to make a buck.
We know that old, established businesses are closing their doors due to COVID- 19 and many new business owners are reeling from the shock of losing their dream investment.
But seeing that man hustling to make a living reminded me there is another workforce out there — and they do not depend on a corporation to pay the rent and have not hung a sign outside a brick- andmortar establishment. They’re on their own. When you talk about small businesses that are trying to survive, one- or two- person operations are as small as it gets.
And they tend to get lost in the conversation when we talk about loss of income due to the pandemic — mainly because they are not viewed as a traditional business by the general public.
But they are the inspiration for this column.
I was wondering how these small operations that I see every day were making it work when millions are laid off and the odds are stacked against them.
But despite the odds, they are making it and are surprisingly optimistic about what they are doing.
I found this out when I spotted a familiar frieddough cart earlier this week on Dixwell Avenue at Goodrich Street in Hamden.
I was used to seeing Clarence Scott in his bright red T- shirt and his partner, Shantay, in her black sweatshirt selling their fried indulgence on the McLevy Green in Bridgeport.
They were part of a group of food carts and food trucks that surrounded the small Green during outdoor events and festivities.
But foot traffic is not what it used to be and competition has stiffened.
“Business was slow so we had to make a move,” Clarence said, but noted foot traffic is better at his new location. “We’re making the best of it.”
He said he has been able to weather the downturn in customers because his diverse business, Top Shelf Foods, has carts in other locations that also sell hot dogs, ices and other foods.
But it is his fried dough that put his carts with the familiar black- and- red sign on the map — and Shantay said the size of the dough is the reason they remain popular after six years.
“It’s bigger than a paper plate,” she said.
Down on Church Street in New Haven where it connects with Chapel, Howard Powell has been a fixture for hot dogs on the go for more than 30 years.
I talked to him as he was cleaning up his “HP’s Hot Dog” cart and preparing to call it a day.
He said he and other vendors got hit with a double whammy: less profit but a directive to upgrade carts to fall in line with new
COVID- 19 health guidelines.
“I’ve lost customers but some of them are coming back,” he said.
But he worries about customers from Meriden and Stratford who have yet to return. “I’d appreciate it if you mention me in the paper,” he said.
It’s not just food vendors who are trying to keep their livelihoods going.
Outside the Good Nature Market on Broadway, Johnny “Guitar” Carr sings through his bandannawrapped face and strums his guitar, surrounded by high- end specialty shops.
Though nobody stopped to listen during the few minutes we talked, an upside- down hat placed in front of him did have some dollars and coins in it.
Johnny said he has been making a living as an outside entertainer at this location and others for 11 years and has no intention of changing.
“I’m struggling, but I’m not going to stop,” he said. “I love doing this. Things have slowed down since the virus but they are starting to pick up again.”
You don’t have to read the newspaper or turn on the evening news to know that a lot of people are having a tough time.
But tough times call for people to readjust and the people I have highlighted are doing just that.
As I said in the beginning, this is not the kind of column I typically write — but it is a shout out to the little guys who work off the beaten path.
And you will find them and their wares everywhere — from outside City Hall on Church Street to outside CTown Supermarket on Ferry Street.
We take for granted the hot dog carts, the man singing on the corner and the guy whose wares are laid out on a table.
We do so because they’re fixtures so seamlessly ingrained in the landscape, they’re taken for granted like traffic lights.
I don’t know about you folks, but I want them to remain fixtures.
So stop by and throw a dollar in the hat and listen to Johnny sing and play his guitar; or treat yourself to some fried dough, an icy or a hot dog on the go.
Because like so many other things in life, you don’t know what you miss until it is gone.
Thriving? The “little guy” keeps it going.