My Friend, the Hotdog Vendor

When I first arrived in the city where I attend university, I noticed a hotdog stand outside the university library. No matter winter or summer, the hotdog stand is parked outside and the vendor has a lot of business. The owner is an elderly, talkative African American man. Every time I passed the stand, I would see him talking to passers by. He appears to know everyone.

Last Saturday when I bought two hotdogs, the owner's friend was looking after the stand. While he was preparing the hotdogs, I noticed some stickers promoting a clean environment and an advertisement for army recruits. I thought it would be great if I could place some truth clarification materials about Falun Dafa in the remaining space. I started to clarify the truth to him and it turned out that he already knew about Falun Dafa and had signed petitions to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in the past. He asked me whether the situation in China had improved. I said that the persecution in China is still very severe, but we continue to call for an end to it. I then asked if I could place some Falun Dafa pamphlets on the stand. He said that it should be no problem and asked me to get the owner's permission when he returned.

After the weekend, I went to the hotdog stand with our local practice site pamphlet that I had designed. The owner was at the stand with his son. I bought two hotdogs and then handed him the pamphlet and said that I would like to put some introductory pamphlets about Falun Dafa on his stand. Before I finished speaking, he said to me loudly, "Peng You, Peng You." After repeating it twice, I realised that he was calling me "friend" in Chinese. I was very surprised and he said, "You can put them wherever you like." Afterwards, he took me around his stand and pointed to all the places where I could post the pamphlets and also said that I could cover all the spaces. I then asked, "Can I really put them anywhere?" The owner replied, "As long as you think this is important." I relied, "Yes, it is very important to me." I then proceeded to put up the pamphlet. The owner then said, "Your paper will get wet in the rain and the colour will fade. You should put it in a plastic sleeve." He is more thoughtful than me. I said that I would come back in a few days with the pamphlet and left the stand. Before I left, the owner called out, "Peng You, Peng You."

I bought better quality paper and printed a more detailed and beautiful introductory leaflet and included the exercise locations and laminated it. I went to the hotdog stand for the third time.

I showed the owner the new leaflet. He said, "What are you waiting for? Quickly put it up." He quickly went over to look at the pamphlet and asked, "Can you tell me where you made this?" and I replied, "I made it myself." "Really?", he said, "It looks great."

He continued to say "looks great, looks great." I felt very happy. His future will be more wonderful due to his kind thoughts.

Now, whenever I pass the stand, I automatically look at it and the owner, as well as the leaflet displaying the beauty of Falun Dafa to passers by.