ANOTHER INTERVIEW WITH
A DRIVER OF A LUNCH TRUCK
By Clinton Marsh
Location: Intersection of Market and New Montgomery in San Francisco
Date and Time: January 14, 2000, 8:39am
Company Name and License Number: Indiscernible
The Interview
Marsh: Hey, why don’t you watch where you’re going?
Driver: Asshole!
INTERVIEW WITH THE DRIVER
OF A LUNCH TRUCK (KIND OF)
By Alex Pascover
The Hot Truck
Driven by Bob Petrillose
LIC#: HOTTRUCK (NY)
Location: West Campus, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Part I
Date & Time: Sunday, Nov. 8, 1999, 2:15 AM
[The Hot Truck, owned and operated by Bob Petrillose, has appeared on the Cornell campus just about every night around 11:00 – 11:30 (Sundays at 6:00), for almost forty years. This being Homecoming weekend, Bob was much too busy to chat, but I was able to talk briefly with William Ko, who was assisting Bob in the truck.]
Ko: Hey Cliffy.
Pascover: Hey Will. So what’s good tonight?
Ko: [Chuckles] Well, as always, Cliffy, everything’s good tonight.
Pascover: OK, I’ll have a Half T. Sui, G&G, extra heavy, sunshine.
[A Suicide, or Sui, is a half-loaf of french bread covered with tomato sauce and cheese and stuffed with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions I think, and maybe some other things. A Triple or T. Sui has three meatballs as well. A Half T. Sui is on a third of a loaf, and I believe it only has one meatball. G&G stands for grease and garden, that is, mayonnaise and lettuce. Extra heavy means extra garlic, and sunshine is mustard.]
Ko: [Writing] Half T. Sui, G&G, extra heavy, did you say sunshine?
Pascover: Yeah, sunshine.
Ko: [Taking money, counting change] OK, that’ll be about an hour, hour and ten minutes.
Pascover: OK, I’ll come back.
Part II
Date & Time: Sunday, Nov. 8, 1999, 3:25 AM
Drunk freshman on steps: Uhh, I’ll have a, I guess, give me a WGC Pep.
Ko: OK. The wait’s about two hours.
Drunk freshman: What, are you kidding me? Fuck that. Never mind.
Ko: Hey Cliffy. You’re on the next tray. About ten minutes.
Pascover: That’s cool.
-Fifteen minutes later-
Ko: Half T. Sui, G&G, extra heavy, sunshine. That’s you Cliffy. Sorry about the wait.
Pascover: No problem. [Taking sandwich] Thanks, bro. See you later. [Louder] Thanks, Bob.
INTERVIEW WITH
A DRIVER OF A LUNCH TRUCK
By Neal Pollack
DRIVER: Chris
TIME/DATE: Noon, Nov. 15, 1999
COMPANY: International Food Service
LOCATION: 4545 S. State Street, Chicago. Outside the Robert Taylor Homes housing project.
Q: What do you have that’s good today?
A: I got good pizza, good hot dogs. Everything, man.
Q: Do you always sell food in the projects?
A: It’s not that bad here, no? I got construction sites, I got one more project on 51st Street. I pretty much been in this area five, maybe six years.
Q: Where are you from?
A: Poland.
Q: What’s the best thing about this job?
A: Money.
Q: The worst thing?
A: People. But without people, I couldn’t make any money, so I have to endure the people. How long you been a reporter?
Q: Seven years.
A: You like it?
Q: No.
INTERVIEW WITH
A DRIVER OF A LUNCH TRUCK
By Heather Schlegel and Clinton Marsh
[Schlegel and Marsh interviewed Fabien Allegria, the proprietor of the El Tonayense taco truck (license plate number: 58R5486) at the corner of Harrison and Mistral, in San Francisco’s Mission District. Alta Vista’s translation website translates “tonayense” from the Spanish to the English as “tonayense.” They warmed up by interviewing the man standing next to them in line.]
PART I
Schlegel: “El Toyanensee?” Did I butcher it? Will you say it for me? How do you say it?
Man in line: I don’t speak English.
Schlegel: Oh. Como se, uh…habla? [Pointing to painted “El Tonayense” sign on the side of the truck.]
Man in line: El Tonayense.
Schlegel: El Tonya…
Man in line: El Tonayense.
Marsh: To-na-yen-se.
Schlegel: Tonayense. Ah, gracias.
[All laugh.]
PART II
Marsh: Hi, what do you have that’s good today?
Allegria: Tacos, but…you want tacos, burritos, or…you mean, on the beef?
Marsh: Yeah.
Allegria: What beef is good?
Marsh: Yeah.
Allegria: Uh, pork. And carne asada.
Schlegel: Carne asada.
Marsh: Do you have flautas?
Allegria: No, just tacos, burritos, and tortas.
Marsh: Can we get two tacos?
Allegria: What do you want, beef?
Marsh: I want beef…two beef tacos…how fast can this thing go?
Allegria: Like uh, one minute!
Marsh: No, how fast can the truck go? How fast have you ever driven this truck?
Allegria: What do you mean?
Marsh: Like, how fast on the highway?
Allegria: I don’t know, really…I never…
Marsh: Seventy miles an hour?
Allegria: Yeah, I’d say seventy.
PART III
Schlegel: What’s a torta?
Allegria: Like a sandwich. This one. [Shakes a big wheat hot dog bun at us.]
Schlegel: Oh, okay okay. I want um, I want two tacos and um, carne asada, and do you have pollo asado?
Allegria: No. We have chicken, but not asado.
Schlegel: No? I’ll just have pollo, or um carne asada.
Allegria: One carne asada and one…?
Schlegel: Two. I’ll just get two.
Allegria: Two carne asada?
Schlegel: Mm-hmm.
Allegria: And two chicken? Or one chicken?
Schlegel: No, just two carne asada, no chicken. Sorry.
Allegria: You want hot sauce or mild?
Schlegel: Mild.
Allegria: Onions and cilantro?
Schlegel: Si! Por favor!
[All laugh]
INTERVIEW WITH A
DRIVER OF A LUNCH TRUCK
By T. Wright Townsend
DRIVER: Ty Dalou
TIME/DATE: 12:45 p.m./Wed., Oct. 13, 1999
COMPANY: Jamaica On Wheels
LOCATION: Outside World Trade Center, Manhattan
LICENSE #: 51568
Townsend:
What do you have that’s good today?
Dalou:
The entrée today is sweet chicken with black beans and rice. It’s West Indian food. We also have the most popular chicken of all chickens ever – I’m sure you heard of it – jerk chicken. With an assortment of spices.
Very nice. Then we have the normal specials, beef oxtail, curry chicken, Escovitch – that’s a fish. It’s spelled, e-s-c-o-v-i-t-c-h. And also we have curry goat [whispers conspiratorially] aka, curry lamb in America.
Townsend:
Did you see the Mets game last night?
Dalou:
Who won?
Townsend:
The Braves.
Dalou:
Are they [the Mets] out?
Townsend:
No. It was the first game in a seven game series.
[longish, awkward silence]
Dalou:
Did you want something to eat?
Dan Dickinson, lunch truck driver from Philadelphia, PA.
Mr. Adams asked Mr. Dickinson, What do you have that’s good today?
Dickinson:
“I have some same stuff every day like meatballs, Italian sausage, cheeseburgers and chicken. They’re pretty much staples every day. The chicken may change. Like today I got chicken that has mushrooms and onions on it. Some days it may have ham and cheese on it. Other days it may just be cheese. Chicken parm I have every day. It’s just a chicken patty with sauce and cheese on it. Different types of pastas. And hot dogs, hot sausages, and kilbasa. And of course cheese steaks — every day. And in the morning we have eggs, egg sandwiches and stuff like that, and then on the side over there there’s muffins and cakes, Tastykakes, pretzels, which we’re famous for.”