I am an Architect who work in the biggest city in Africa (Lagos) and because of the high cost of living just like any other big city in the world, I live pretty far away from work. If you an office worker in cities like New York, Beijing, Lagos or London and live far away from work then you must have the 7:00am life saver in your life. Maybe your timing might be different from mine but this guys is as important as your productivity on that job you are doing at your work place. These Food Vendors who are seven o’clock life savers are people who helps you with one of the most essential necessity of life which is food. They provide you with this service because you don’t get to grab a good meal at home because of the timing at which you leave for work. Now most at times we don’t choose these persons because of the situation through which you get to meet them. Nature and hunger choose them for us. In some cases we might not feel like patronizing these people for the first time but sometimes life happens and you find yourself eating from this same person for the next two to three years. These guys are hardly paid any kind of respect because they are not as expensive like the popular fast food franchises that we have all around. They sell to you according to the how many Naira or Dollar notes you have in your pocket. But the fact is that does not make them any less important or special. I personally buy my food from these people because they sell the real food with less packaging when compared to fast foods joints of this world. The real truth is that we buy more of the packaging and brands when we visit some of these food franchise because they measure everything they sell to us. But with a food vendor it is different. Food vendors are so important that the life of an average worker in any central business unit relies on the warm food coming out from this people’s static or mobile kitchen. Below are some of the very eye catchy advantages of food vendors.
Everyone has his or her vendor
Food is something that can only be judged sweet or bad by the person eating. I once had a taste of Nigerian Jollof rice from a lady and I swore to myself to never buy her food because it was bad. Yet every morning of every weekday and even weekends, I see a people devouring her food. It looked surprising to me but then it hit me that everyone has his or her vendor. Everyone has a special food vendor that tickles their taste bud and it is really nice.
Location
You can find these life savers in little kiosk, cafeterias, burger stands, coffee stands, food trucks and shops and like we call it in Nigeria “mama put” or “buka”. This life savers have their little outlets located at very nice places close to where you work that you don’t need to trek a long distance to get an affordable meal or a road side bite. Now although when you climb up the ladder of success in the skyscraper offices you might make up your mind and not patronize them but the fact is you will not be able to ignore the positioning of these guys. They are simply the most efficient food sellers around.
Characteristics
They are usually a one man business owned by persons who knows how to cook but can only manage a small business. What makes the seven o’clock life savers important is they don’t have fixed prices or measures. Most at times their prices are influenced by a number of factors. One of which is familiarity to the customers. I have been a diligent customer to a particular food vendor called “Iya Calabar” which means Calaba mother (calabar is a place in Nigeria) and I have noticed that the size of the food she always sold to me grew when she knew I will always patronizing her. Although her gauge of sales might be influenced by her emotions on some days and I get a really small food; well that’s what makes her sales style unique. As a quick question when did you get a hotdog bonus because you have been patronizing that famous burger seller near your office? If you have experienced that then you can relate to what I am saying.
Mobility and Always on Time
I have never seen any other type of food outlet that is as mobile as the food vendor. The food trucks you see around for example shows how diligent and committed food vendors are to their customer’s satisfaction when it comes to being there when you need them and at the time you need them. It is always a wonderful feeling that you are leaving for work at about six o’clock in the morning and you know by seven o’clock you will be eating a hot meal from your favorite vendor.
Summary
Many of us patronize food vendors but never really feel good of speaking about them openly. We forget the fact that in most cases we are more satisfied with the food from a food vendor than the one from branded franchise. We forget that these food vendors are the reason we make it to work early and stay active all day because of their cooking. I patronize food vendors close to my work place because I believe they build the better work men we have in the world today and not the big fast food retail franchise that are all around.
