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Friday, Feb. 18: Every evening, Octavio rolls his shopping cart to
the street corner and pushes a bicycle horn four or five times. This is
the call. Dinner time. $1 tamales for sale. Hot tamales, homemade by his
wife, Oneida. I tried two today. Delicious. One was semisweet. The other
was stuffed with spicy beef. While Octavio sells the tamales out of large
pots in his shopping cart, Maritza and Marisela, his two daughters, go
door to door in all the apartment buildings. They carry their tamales
in coolers to keep them warm. I bought one today from Marisela, a sweet
12-year-old with long hair braided down her back. She thanked me. I asked
her if she liked the tamales. “Yes,” she said in Spanish. “But I get tired
of eating them sometimes.”
Monday, March 7 Every morning, from about 7 to 9,
trucks come into the neighborhood to pick up their cargo: men. The men
wait anxiously outside the apartment buildings, most dressed in blue jeans
with comfortable T-shirts and sturdy work boots. They wear caps or hats
for sun protection. The trucks are headed to construction sites, plant
nurseries, plumbing projects, electrical jobs and produce fields. Ruben
Diaz, 33, who on this day is wearing a green “Gator Lumber” cap, said
he gets calls from previous employer s who have hired him as a day laborer.
“I have a good reputation as a hard worker,” he said.
Sunday, July 17 Traveling salesmen — pushing everything
from religion to cosmetics to medical care — knock on my door most days
of the week, but especially on Sundays. They come despite the warning
at the building’s entrance prohibiting door-to-door selling. Here is a
list of those who have made their pitches today: the Mexican pastry vendor;
a woman selling hair braids; a man selling socks; the pizza vendor; and
a woman selling family portraits. That does not include the abortion clinic
flier that was left pinned to my door Monday; the visit from the perfume
salesman and Jehovah’s Witnesses on Wednesday; the tamale vendor who stopped
by Thursday; and the kids selling M&M’s candy Friday. Some people would
find it annoying. I think it’s convenient. Instead o f you going to the
store, the store comes to you.
Tuesday, Sept. 20 Someone slipped a flier under my
door today while I was at work. The Spanish-language flier advertised
all sorts of herbal products and ointments to cure everything from arthritis
to diabetes. It also included weight-loss products and energy pills. The
products cost an average of $20 an order. These type of businesses thrive
here because people can’t afford or don’t want to go to a doctor. Many
are afraid that if they seek out free help at the local hospitals, they
will be deported.
Staff writer
Jeordan Legon immigrated from Cuba with his family in 1979. He lived for
most of last year in the Courtyard Apartments in the predominantly Hispanic
neighborhood near 15th and Spurgeon streets in Santa Ana.
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