The Hot Dog Lady

Posted by Damon Schreiber (Toronto, Canada) on 9 March 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

This is the woman who serves me a hot dog every Wednesday on the break in my night class. She is extremely nice, and says that if she owned the cart where she works, the buns would be better. In fact, everything would be perfect.

I admire her very much for the work she does - last night was bitterly cold, so cold that the pickles and sauerkraut were frozen, still she's there putting warm food into the stomachs of hungry students. She was very sweet about allowing my to take her picture, so don't say I'm 'busted' or that she's going to attack with her tongs or any such thing!

A hot dog haiku (author unknown):
pig lips to my lips
pig stomach to my stomach
a meeting of meat

High-Res here.

[Church near Dundas on the Ryerson University campus, Toronto]

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Comments (12)

Aaron Schmidt from Auckland, New Zealand

At first I thought she was possessed, ready to stab violently with her wicked knife but then I read your description and the world seemed full of peace. If she makes people happy then she makes me happy. I wish I could try one of her tasty hotdogs.

9 Mar 2007 5:21am

@Aaron Schmidt: :-) True, I may have processed her in a less-flattering way than I could have... Thanks Aaron!

Daniel from Olympia, United States

nice portrait!

9 Mar 2007 5:39am

@Daniel: Thanks, Daniel!

Nick Passantino from Bronx, United States

Nice capture.. Really shows her emotion well.

9 Mar 2007 5:44am

@Nick Passantino: Hope so. Many who saw this seemed to assume the worst, but she was just waving her tongs while making a point. Thanks, Nick!

Maoya from Rolle, Switzerland

When the photo first loaded. I thought she was a maniac canibal!. The colors, the shadows, the expression and the blur on the tongs are wonderfully horror movie like. Good thing you explained that she is nice after all, I'd never eat a hot dog in Toronto again!

9 Mar 2007 8:18am

@Maoya: She's a lovely person - from what I can tell, so I wouldn't worry, and her hot dogs are fine. Thanks, Maoya!

Putter from Belgium

Very fine portrait!

9 Mar 2007 8:33am

Duncan Galbraith from kyoto, Japan

ooooh. youve got REAl hot dogs. not the japanese variety. As much as I love the sausage over this way, theres no substitute for the ones back home (although if you travelled to england you'd no doubt share that very same feeling). Great portrait. Love the dramatic hitchcockian lighting and the swinging tweezers...cue the stabbing violins.

9 Mar 2007 10:01am

@Duncan Galbraith: Hmm... Can't remember eating hot dogs in Japan... Unfortunately, the good civil servants in Toronto's licensing commission refuse to allow any other food sold from carts here other than sausages. It's tragic, really. But luckily, they're not bad.

As I said, the lady is extremely sweet. One week, however, in her place was a guy who looked exactly like he just got out of - or escaped from - prison. Actually I'm certain he had. Needless to say, I was much to frightened to ask him for a picture (or to try for a candid). I was relieved when she was back the next week.

Behrooz from Tehran, Iran

This is an awesome image. She scared me a little at first, then I read about the hot dogs.

9 Mar 2007 12:22pm

@Behrooz: Thanks, Behrooz! She asked why people like taking her picture, and I told her it's because she's beautiful. She scoffed and said 'Maybe twenty years ago!'