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| Hawker |
A
street hawker is a familiar figure in a town. He is the seller of a variety of
things and he moves from street to street. He carries his wares sometimes on
the head, sometimes in his hands and sometimes in a small hand cart. He
sells toys, clothing's, sweets, fruits, utensils, newspapers and things of
domestic use, by bringing them up to people’s
doors. There are hawkers of various kinds and classes. All hawkers would not
come to people’s doors.
Some are like shopkeepers and sit with their wares on the footpath. Others will stand
at important street corners and shout for customers. They will give a list of
the articles they have in such a sing-song manner that one cannot but feel
amused and interested. The hawkers in the street corners generally shout
very loudly. Thus they try to attract attention to themselves.
The hawker is a clever fellow who knows his
business. He means one kind of goods for children, another kind of women and
yet another kind for men. He chooses things for children that will attract
children and for women that will attract women. So he has to be careful about
the things to sell. As he passes along the street he makes a peculiar cry. The
children, here and there, gather around him and stop him. The hawker generally
chooses an hour when men are away from home and women are free from household
work. He knows that men are not friendly to him. They go out into the streets
and know what is what. Women and children are easily taken in by the bright
look of the things he shows them and they become his customers. His things are
generally cheap, but they are of inferior quality and they do not last long.
But when their children inherent defects are detected or when they are broken
the hawker will be far away.
A hawker usually brings toys and sweets. So
he is a favorite of the children. A hawker’s
toys are innocent things but the cheap food he sells is often dangerous. This
is especially true of the hawker who sits on the footpath and sells uncovered
food.
Flies and dust settle on such food and various diseases are spread by it. The
hawker is a small man but he earns his bread in his town way. As a trader he is
not worse than others. If there are dishonest men among hawkers, we must know
that there are dishonest men everywhere. His profit is generally very low. He
does some service by bringing things of our daily use up to our doors.
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