Friday, October 2, 2015

The Yam Man


The Yam Man


Henan Providence, China
Spring 2012

I passed this man every day so one day, I took Selia with me and I interviewed him. He has a small cart and he sells roasted yams, nothing else. He tells me, because of his age, he can only sell yams.  The more popular foods are sold by younger people so they can make more money.  If he tried to sell corn or apples, people would not buy from him because they would think his food is inferior since he is not selling within the boundaries of what an old person can sell.

He works seven days a week and he brings his cart to his corner even if he is sick.  If he doesn't work, he doesn't earn money.  He stands in the rain and the cold and the blazing hot sun. He is always friendly and greets me every time he sees me.

He said he sells about 25 grams of yams a day and he charges about 8 yuan a gram so that equates to 200 yuan a day ($33) which seems exceedingly high.  Construction workers make only $20/day so maybe he didnt understand the question or maybe he didnt want me to know how much he  makes.

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