Former Middle-Class couple runs hot dog stand to ward off homelessness

[Lorien]

WASHINGTON -- Budd and Grae Lewis, 62 and 50 years old, wake up every morning and roll their hot dog truck out onto the streets of Portland, Oregon. Since they both lost their jobs to outsourcing in 2008 -- his as an animator and hers as a semi-conductor designer for Intel -- Budd says they can't afford one of the fancy enclosed food trucks that would allow them to work in inclement weather, so on many nights they go home with nothing but a pile of rain-drenched buns.

"We've spent days and days like little kids sitting glumly at a lemonade stand watching the cars go by, in the rain, huddled under our trailer's umbrella, trying to keep our hands warm over a little grill," Lewis wrote in an email to HuffPost. "Some days we'd sell two or three sandwiches. Some days it wasn't as good."

(snip)

Lewis said he and his wife can't afford a permanent "food pod" in Portland, which typically runs between $500 and $800 a month, so they often set up at craft fairs and holiday bazaars at schools, grange halls and churches. This month, they managed to earn about $3,000 from hot dog sales, but he said they are putting most of that money toward repairs on the trailer. In the meantime, they're living for free in a friend's guest bedroom, but they might be homeless soon since his friend's house is in the process of foreclosure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/03/former-middle-class-coupl_n_778267.html

This really hits home for me and many of my friends. I'm also an animator and illustrator who has lost huge amounts of work to outsourcing and the crap economy. If it weren't for a part time time teaching gig I'd be in the same boat. The recession is far from over for many of us. :-(

[laughingliberal]

1. K & R nt

[Starry Messenger]

2. k & r

[Subdivisions]

3. Man that sucks.

Perhaps once their friend is put out they should consider moving their operation to better climes in a area with more foot traffic. It's never an easy thing to do.

I remember a guy I met years ago (during better economic times) who decided to spend a few thousand of his retirement savings to buy a hot dog cart. This was in Hampton, VA, and that man made a bundle selling dogs and burgers from 10am to 2pm weekdays. Anytime I was in the area during the lunch hour I would go see Old Walt for a dog or burger. Man that was some good food!

[TheKentuckian]

4. I feel em. I wish I could surf out about 6 weeks. It would change my longterm stability

I'd also love to have a food truck, I think there is a big opening around here if you can get permission to come on grounds and whatnot.

I'd bust out my chilies and soups along with solid home fare and sandwiches and folks that work in many office buildings would eat it up.

This couple though has it rough, it'll be too hard to keep up physically for too long and just won't ever get back to what they spent a lifetime building without a fairly big change in fortunes.

Still, its a little inspiring that these folks refuse to stay on the mat and find ways to do something they have love for.

[DesertFlower]

5. we stopped at our jewelry store

this afternoon to get some ring guards. they're gone. the place is empty. i feel really bad. they are the nicest people -- the kind you get to know on a personal level.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. I had a local printer I used for years

Went by a month ago to get some stuff printed and she was gone. Really made me sad.

[herbm]

24. Great bumper sticker. I'm making one for the teabaggers here in Texas.

Sad part is how these simple minded anger addicts don't realized how they're being hosed just like the fundementalists were by "Conservatives".

[DesertFlower]

39. last year it was a small family run

italian restaurant. very sad.

[Bryn]

6. k&r

:(

[pa28]

7. Two skilled and totally unemployed people.

Ten years ago they would have been sought after professionals and now they are barely subsiting due to our own globalization policies.

We can only fix the problem by examining and correcting our own mistakes but it seems that NAFTA, GATT and supply side solutions have crossed the bar of religious adherence for Washington decision makers.

Good luck to us all. We'll need it.

[herbm]

25. Don't NAFTA for jobs that went to Asia. "Conservatives" hide behind Nafta to "right" shore (as Fiori

na put it). Corporations do this to satisfy "investors". Money making money and people ought change laws regarding what is an investment in a companies tooling up and what is merely leaseing a company's equitity in itself and how each scenario gets taxed. Speculation is not an investment.

[boppers]

67. Get rid of the internet, and we're fine.

We have crossed over.

[provis99]

8. they make $3000 a month selling hot dogs? I'm in the wrong field.

[hobbit709]

10. question is: is that gross or net.

I can sell $3000 worth of something but if costs are $2000, then I really only make $100. Most of the time profit margins aren't even that good.

[boppers]

68. Wat?

"I can sell $3000 worth of something but if costs are $2000, then I really only make $100."

Uhm, if you are demonstrating your math skills, perhaps small business isn't for you.

If you sell $3000 of something, but costs are $2000, you make $1000. Not $100.

[hobbit709]

70. Typo.

[xchrom]

11. did you see their remarks about how often they make nothing? nt

[WestSeattle2]

42. Of course now that they're self-employed, their taxes are higher;

plus state, county and city business license fees and taxes. Then we get down to the cost of goods sold. After all that, I'd be surprised if they netted $500 from that $3,000 gross; and that's after spending countless hours staffing the darn thing. And that's a good month for them. I'm thinking that whatever field you're in, is better than the field they're in!

[boppers]

69. Not always true.

I've been self employed off and on for years, and the tax benefits are amazing.

My father was great at the game, one year, he made $247,000 (net cash income), $17 of which was taxable.

Not 17 thousand, 17 dollars.

The rest was write offs, deductions, credits, blah blah blah.

[Mimosa]

9. Reminds me of the people selling apples during the Great Depression

Lorien, you're such a good person. I am praying the economy will improve, especially for all the creative people like you.

[Lorien]

19. Thanks Mimosa

:hug: :loveya:

[Boxerfan]

12. Pretty sure I saw him-standing in the rain-sign to the traffic.I was hungry also...

Coulda used a good dog. But I'm unemployed also.

He was on a busy intersection & it looked like he had his remaining savings into the cart. His face told the story however. A mix of desperation & agony that I know all too well.The 2 days I saw him-at the intersection of 223rd & Sandy in Fairview Oregon-he had zero customers.

This time of year it will be very hard for him I'nm afraid. Rotten weather & even worse economy.I really hope he makes it but frankly I don't see how.

[HughBeaumont]

13. Thank you, corporatist douchebags. In 2010 America, skilled workers are selling hot dogs.

Technologically advanced workers are SELLING HOT DOGS. HOT DOGS!!!!

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable and despicable. I BEG any "laissez failure" Friedman-Reaganomic-loving asshole to defend this.

[Hello_Kitty]

17. Seriously, where are DU's globalization cheerleaders? eom

[bongbong]

27. I'm a globalization cheerleader!

I'm a globalization cheerleader for CEOs & Wall Streeters. I am positive we could find some replacement CEO's, senior executives, and Wall Street managers who would do a better job & work for 1/100 the price.

It seems only those professions are safe. :sarcasm:

[mudplanet]

20. That's what I noted as well. An electronics engineer and a highly skilled

commercial artist, two fields that are hotter than ever, cannot find decent employment. And I suspect some of it has to do with their ages.

If were going to have to live in a dog-eat-dog country, I know which dogs need to be slaughtered and eaten first, and they aren't in the working class.

[HughBeaumont]

72. +1. I believe a LOT of it has to do with a) their ages and

b) the fact that they won't work for cornflakes.

[Thav]

49. Well sure!

They went from employees to entrepreneurs! They're living the dream!

:sarcasm: to the max.

[maryf]

15. K&R but

they really are already homeless as they have no home of their own. Real shame, and they are far from alone.

[bobbolink]

41. Take note: There are Many DUers who INSIST that most homeless people are "mentally ill"

Look at this couple, and then realize how many others JUST LIKE THEM are now homeless, and being called "mentally ill"!!

What the hell does it take to get THROUGH to people who call themselves "progressive"??

[maryf]

52. +100; What about the 75% plus homeless who are perfectly sane and sober???

maybe this will help folks realize that most homeless are folks who have had a run of tough luck, and without affordable housing available can't find a livable place to live; sometimes I think people don't want to imagine it could happen to them...

About 25% of homeless are vets, and many of them are suffering from ptsd, which is a huge proportion of the small percentage of poor homeless who do have mental illness...

Please note I say sane and sober, as the stats say 16% of homeless are mentally ill, and a few more have substance abuse problems.

Still 75% plus homeless are not mentally ill, and not abusers. That's got to be close to the norm!

[maryf]

66. correcting myself...

actually, I think homeless people are more sane than the norm upon reading more from the Coalition for the Homeless...

20% of those with homes have mental illness, only 16% of the homeless...

[Odin2005]

16. How long before the pro-corporate "regulators" shut them down?

[sam sarrha]

18. I'm not far behind you.. but the Rich are getting a lot richer, ........ here is how rich >>links>>

and that our taxes, and cutting SSI, and Medicare will subsidize the richest people in the world to the tune of $4 TRILLION DOLLARS in the next 10 years



http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

top 1% holds 6 Times that of the bottom 80% who hold only 7% of financial wealth.. so the top 20% holds ..93%.. of all the Financial wealth of America.. they didn't get it honestly. Buffet only pays 14% income tax, Gates pays what a family making $80,000 does.. and the Bu$h43 tax cut only benefits the top 2.5% richest not mom & pop.

http://feedingamerica.org/faces-of-hunger/hunger-101/child-hunger-facts.aspx
"...20% or more of the child population in 16 states and D.C. are living in food insecure households. The states of Arkansas (24.4 percent) and Texas (24.3 percent) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. (Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008. iii..."

the Psychotic Obsessive Compulsive Hording of wealth in this country should be declared a threat to National Security.

[upi402]

21. It's a depression actually, if you're unemployed.

Many existing jobs are a result of socialism from FDR and after. The biggest users I know are Republicans, ironically.

[alp227]

22. yet executives at sinking banks get unlimited welfare called "bailouts" n/t

[herbm]

mouse dead, accidental repeat.

[herbm]

23. I know a lot of people making a good and honest living working 4 - 6 days aweek selling hot dogs. If

I had 3 or 4 grand for a nice dog cart I would, too. Fortunately when I put the Corporation behind me, I got to do hand dyeing and I like it just fine.

[Hannah Bell]

28. lol.

[jtuck004]

30. Hand dyeing. What a great idea.

May I ask what you do with the material, or is this done on order?

Is there much competition?

The reason I ask is I am working on a list of the types of business that people can start without franchising, without a lot of capital. Because I think, for a lot of people, that they are lost without someone to ask for a job, and what you are doing is what they need to learn. They may not actually compete with you - the idea is to get them involved in something, which quite often results in a spin off as they re-awaken the creativity that was put to sleep in their cubicle.

[herbm]

33. I do mainly yardage in cotton and silk for quilters and seamsters, I also dye silk scarf blanks and

I tie dye some t's. I have photos on flickr. This is the site: http: //www.flickr.com/photos/25297976@N07/

There is competition on low end $15.00 spiral/peace sign tees, but I go to the high end. Try to stay away from craft shows or themed shows unless 60's/70's is the theme. I market mainly to quilt shows because quilters are honest and buy what they want without bargaining. I also give classes and presentations. I make pretty good living at this and I like the freedom and travel. And I am carried in a few shops, too. I no longer do consignment deals and thats when you know you are going to make it.

You can start cheaply, but I do recommend reading everything about it you can and I would be glad to help you with any questions. If you'll contact me thru DU or flickr I'll give you my e-mail.

I did this origionaly while I was in college in the early 70's to get concert tickets and a little doobage. Later when my daughters were born I did it again to keep their onesies nice looking (formula stains). I started again about eight years ago because a freind was having a child and I offered to dye the onesies. Been going great guns since. I have a nice studio and a shop.

There isn't much competition, but at the level I dye my style positions my product in more of coopetition rather than competiton. Stay away from cheap and easy and the competition thins. I recommend dyeing as a reasonably good living in these times.

[earth mom]

37. Wow, your stuff is gorgeous!

Do you sell online or on etsy? I sell on etsy and ebay, but I'm not as brave as you to share what I do.

There are lots of talented people on etsy who make incredible stuff. I think it's a great place for people to go to make some extra cash if not turn what they are doing into a great business.

The best thing and probably only good thing about this rotten economy is that people are thinking outside of the box and getting creative and making some amazing stuff. Instead of Corporate America dictating to us what is cool and beautiful. Of course, now I see lots and lots of etsy type stuff copied all over the place-stuff that looks handmade but was made in a factory in China. It ticks me off and I avoid that stuff like the plague but I'm glad that artists and crafters have taken a small bite out of Corporate America and made them step it up! :evilgrin:

[herbm]

38. Thanks. I am dyslexic and Etsy requires me to pay too much attention. I sell comics and nicknacks on

E-Bay.

Sometimes it feels like everybody being college educated to work buys into corporate lies. Craft is not merely crafting, but creating useful things is as important to society as stock brokery is even if doesn't feed banks to the same degree. I'd rather know the people who contribute to my lifestyle vs Walmart's anonymous slave produced things.

[pengillian101]

56. DU Marketplace is a group you may want to post in.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=213


Beautiful things you make!
:-)

[herbm]

71. Never heard of it before. Thank you!

[NBachers]

61. Woe- Looka Dat!

Pretty nice stuff!

[kcass1954]

40. Quilters love hand-dyed fabric. I can't afford to purchase as much as I used to,

but I buy a little now and then for something special. I've spent as much as $18/yd for hand-dyed cottons. Use the best base fabric you can find - lots of folks start out using cheap muslin from the chain fabric stores, and I turn up my nose at cheap-quality fabric.

Edit to add: Good luck, and if you get going, post in the Crafts Forum.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

54. You do beautiful work. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

26. k&r

[jtuck004]

29. These people should go into business consulting...

"Some days we'd sell two or three sandwiches. Some days it wasn't as good."

This month, they managed to earn about $3,000 from hot dog sales"

So, let's say they sold 3 a day, that's 93 in a good long month. $3000 (their gross from above) divided by 93 is

$32.26. Per hot dog.

These people have figured out capitalism.


On a more serious note, however, what they are doing is exactly where we are going. I do understand their pain over having lost what once was, but they, along with the rest of the country, watched for the past 40 years as the means of production have been sold out from under us. (Not 'dissin us, just what happened). The recession is not only NOT over, but it is going to get worse. The removal of unemployment takes $50 billion more a year out of the economy. Unemployment WILL be higher next year, and we cannot, as a nation, afford to pay YEARS of unemployment for non-productive people. Good jobs are being replaced by those of home health care aid and other low-paying service jobs, when one can get a job, and the industrial sector has been almost completely replaced by the financial sector. Layoffs are still being planned and implemented. 9 million homes are still expected to be foreclosed on. Along with that most people's debt which used to be used for items we could cut back on by mortgages and health care, things we cannot cut back on.

We are very likely wage and debt slaves for at least the next 20-30 years, barring some miracle of technology that requires millions of well-paid workers. If you hear of that, please let me know.

The math is easy - we need to re-employ about 20 million people to bring unemployment back to around 5-6%, while at the same time providing jobs for the 125,000 or so new entrants to the job market each month. To accomplish this we need to create 250,000 private, non-government jobs EVERY month for the next 13 years and 4 months, starting right now.

We have never created that many jobs for that long in the entire history of the United States.

We could end this, starting by organizing our neighbors into cooperatives and creating our own business, eventually gaining enough political power to change this. But I think people are still too wrapped up in how life used to be to recognize that what they were used to is over.

Wonder how many hot dog carts are available...

[KittyWampus]

48. I hope that $32 hot dog came with relish and kraut!

:)

[Hannah Bell]

53. gotta by the dogs & buns from the borg -- at this time, anyway. unless

a lot of people can make a "good living" as the poster claims selling specialty hand-crafted weiners & buns to people who still have the money to spend on such luxuries.

i doubt the claim that the poster knows many people making a good living doing a hot dog stand.

same goes for home-based tie-dye businesses, too. when the majority of people are cutting out luxury goods, folks in those businesses are competing for the dollars of the upper-middle & upper classes -- & there's only so many $100 scarves they're going to buy.

[surrealAmerican]

31. Is that legal in Portland?

... or are they avoiding the police the whole time.

[ProudDad]

32. Welcome to the future... (n/t)

[earth mom]

34. This is sad but I like the couple's spirit. They aren't giving up and believe in their dream.

Maybe there is a franchise opportunity in this for them or maybe they could get Costco to sell their products.

I'm rooting for them! :applause:

[EmeraldCityGrl]

55. There has been a revival in Portland of the street/cart food

people in NY City or many international countries are use to.

Here is an example of some of the great food carts available.

http://www.foodcartsportland.com/

I suspect one of their big problems is competing with so many
of the wonderful choices now avalable.

There's a movement to get this started in Seattle but it's been
much slower to take off because of the restrictions and costs
the city's trying to impose.

[Contrary1]

35. My friend is recently unemployed...again.

First time around, she lost her home due to foreclosure. She had a cabin in a rural area sitting on 5 acres. Probably had to get rid of 3/4 of her personal belongings, including her pets. She did manage to find work, but not soon enough. Ended up in a dumpy apartment complex.

This time around she hasn't been able to find anything. It's a shame. She is great at managing an office, and is gifted in the graphic design department. Problem is, she is 57 years old, and has no degrees.

She had to break her lease. More of her belongings are in my garage waiting for new owners, her last two pets have been re-homed, and she has moved in with her daughter. She should start getting hounded by the collection agencies any day now.

We come from an earlier time, when talent, ability, on-the-job experience, and drive were not only valued, but rewarded with job security.

Truly sad.

[rtassi]

36. +1

[Pacifist Patriot]

43. When I clicked on this I thought it was going to be about a couple in Clarke Co. Georgia

This might very well be the equivalent of selling apples in the depression.

[ladywnch]

44. there is a hot dog stand outside of the local Home Depot

she has a 10' x 10' section of the sidewalk near the middle entrance. She does not tap into any power from HD, she does not use any water or anything else for that matter. She is doing this to supplement her husband's income (I forget what he does/did) but it was not a high paying job.

They actually make her pay RENT. They recently told her they were going to raise her rent from $600 to $900 a month!!!!! $900/month for 10 square feet of SIDEWALK! She's there MAYBE 5 hours a day including set up and pack up. I KNOW she brings customers to that store (me included).....contractors running short on time and need some supplies will go there since they can get both their supplies and grab a quick cheap lunch ($2 for dog, chips and can of soda). Granted not the most healthy lunch but given missing lunch or this.....I'll take the dogs.

When she told them she would have to leave if they increased the rent, the gave in and left it at $600.....which is still OUTRAGEOUS.

[Hannah Bell]

57. she has to sell 10 dogs a day & work 30 days to just make the rent.

150 hours a month and 4 sales an hour nets her $600 after rent before she pays for the buns, dogs & condiments.

$2 is cheap for a dog, so I doubt she has much margin. maybe she'd clear $300 -- $2 an hour if she sold 4 dogs an hour working 5 hours for 30 days of the month.

home-based businesses typically don't pay market-rates for the labor invested. they have other merits (control), but they won't replace they typical job.

[Lorien]

63. Home Despot is a big GOP contributor and advertiser on Limbaugh's show

so I'm not surprised by their insatiable greed.

[Liberal_in_LA]

45. k&R

[laylah]

46. I would love to see this story...

HuffPo has always wreaked havoc on my computer. Does anyone have another link?

Thanks in advance :loveya:

Jenn

[rug]

47. Outsourcing is the global theft of labor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX1iplQQJTo

[Honeycombe8]

50. How could they lose their jobs to outsourcing if they were living on savings in Canada?

The article says the wife was in graduate school in Canada, and they were living on savings. They then moved to Portland.

The article also seems to imply that this business is the way they wanted to go, as opposed to employment for a company. They are hoping to grow the business, and they are excited about it. So I'm not sure if the article is a sad story or a hopeful one.

The biggest problem seems to be their health conditions (they don't say what they are) and that they have no permanent home (which was apparently their choice, since he is 62 and doesn't own a home?).

I hope they do all right, but at least they have each other, an education, marketable skills, 401K savings to invest in a business, ingenuity and creativeness. (I hope they don't eat many of those hot dogs, though, since they have health conditions; that's not what you'd call healthy food, when it's a steady part of the diet.)

[sarcasmo]

51. The new America, what a sad society we have become.

[pengillian101]

58. HuffPo has an update from the couple

"Budd and Grae Lewis 11:14 PM on 11/03/2010

11 Fans

I really don't understand all the vitriol and vilification. We replied to another Impact 2.0 story about a 60 year old man who started some websites with the same "If you have a story to tell..." at the bottom. We shared our story with HuffPo in the hopes that others would see that there is something that each of us can do to survive in the worst economy since the Great Depression, even if it is a lowly hot dog cart. When you can't find a job, make one. We are still struggling but we are not about to give up. It's just not an option. We would also like to make some corrections to the article. We grossed almost $3K in October. It was the best month we had, thanks to two really great events. And we followed that up with two events where we lost money. And that's the way it goes. Every time we go out it's a crap shoot. We've only been open 6 months and the first 3 months of that it rained practically every day. But we kept at it and we'll keep at it despite the detractors. If we can survive, and maybe even thrive, then anybody can. All it takes is a little creative ingenuity. Nobody plans to be homeless, or loose their house, or job, or get sick or injured. What you do in response to these life challenges is determined and defined by each person's character. "

[shireen]

59. where do the animation jobs go?

I find it unbelievable that they'd outsource animation! Which companies are outsourcing?

:(

[Starry Messenger]

60. Disney has outsourced for awhile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsourcing_of_animation

[Lorien]

65. Disney only outsources TV and straight to video animation overseas

(so far) they still have a good sized studio on the main lot, but they aren't doing as many films as they once were and they have slashed wages considerably.

[Lorien]

64. All of them. Mostly to South Korea

some to India and Australia (because Australia pays studios to send their work there).

[Rex]

62. But hey, we have a crazy-zany funny show on the M$M about

'outsourcing' so it has to be okay with the status quo in America! :sarcasm: