Non-stop Hustling: The Busy Life of a Market Vendor

I already experienced being a sales lady in a mini store because Mommy D has her Sari-Sari store at home. The people coming over to buy are not that many, but it is still tiring, especially when you have to walk and talk to a customer to accommodate them. But what more of it is there for those sellers here on the Public market? With the nonstop flow of people that is coming, I'm sure they will get a body ache just being here and attending to customers, and for sure it is really tiring.

But it's not like they have a choice, they really can't complain. In reality, this is actually a blessing to them. And having a painful and tired body is what they have to pay for, just so they can put food on their table, pay their bills, and give comfort to those families waiting for them at home. That's how hard the lives of those amazing vendors are, but for sure, to them, it is a fulfilling job, especially because it is what helps them survive every day.

Anyway, I went here last July 1 with my Mama. This place never ceases to amaze me. It is always busy, and people just keep coming here. It's hard to get to the other side because there are too many hoomans. The path is not that wide either, so we have no choice but to fit ourselves.

So here's the entrance. The "Tinapa" caught our attention because the fish used there was different from what they usually use, they are using "Galunggong" on this one, which is a good fish for me. But the price is a little pricey compared to the other one. By the way,

"Tinapa" is fish cooked or preserved through the process of smoking. It is a native delicacy in the Philippines. Source

Tinapa is really great paired with fried rice. I also love to dip it in a sauce made with vinegar and lots of onion, garlic, and chili. I can eat a lot of rice if that's our meal. Have you ever tried Tinapa before?

We get inside the market to check out other products, we might find something here that is worth bringing home. But as you can see, you can only see lots of fruits and vegetables here. I think most of the products that they sell here are those two, next are the Dried Fish and other seafood.

Well, you can also find more. There's eggs, even Fish Sauce in a bottle, and more. Those condiments are best used with these fresh vegetables. Do you also add fish sauce to some of your homemade food? We don't use it, to be honest, even if we wanted to, we still couldn't because that may result in severe pain in my mommy's knee. That will be bad, even soy sauce is not allowed. It's sad, but we also need to be considerate for the sake of my mom, who's very hardheaded. She will eat foods that have those ingredients, so we have no choice but not to eat it too.

_{Image Edited in Canva}

Look at those people Swarming in there. That just shows how people love the "Tiangge-an" here in our Pinamalayan. And if in Bansud it only happens every Friday and Sunday, here in Pinamalayan it happens every Saturday, once a week. This is the time when people can get a hold of those fresh but cheap products. Awesome right? That's why it was always flooded with people.

Here's another, we are reaching the end of the open court, where each stall was standing and the vendors were doing their best to get the attention of the people. They are really doing their best here. I'm wondering if I will also feel motivated, just like them, to reach a goal or a quota. As all of their products are almost the same, it is just how they handle their customers and how much cheaper the price they can offer them, so some will choose their stalls to get the ingredients or products they want. It sounds like hard work. They have their own battlefield here.

Of course, aside from the price, the quality of their product should be good too. It is sad that some products get to this point of being overly ripe and not as fresh as others anymore. Is it because they set the price too high before that it became like this, or maybe because the number of the same product like this is already so large that it is hard to sell them? But well, I know there are people who prefer an overly ripe banana, some use it as an ingredient for their Banana Cake. I hope that before this product goes bad, he has already sold all of them. Fighting mister ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ.

Who wants fresh corn? Boiled corn is good, but I love grilled corn more. Have you tried grilled corn before? It's been a long time since we last had it. We can't cook it now because we don't have a griller, sadly, it is a perfect snack. And oh, corn soup too, I love that as a soup with steamed white rice. I love my Mommy D's corn soup, I'll request that she make it one day. It's cool how we can cook corn in different ways.

It is really thanks to those farmers that we can enjoy such fresh fruits and other crops. They deserve more recognition, I might say. Without them, we wouldn't have these products that we could buy on the market. Although there are people who plant their own crops for their own use, not all people can do that. Salute to the farmers!

And these vendors here are the people who buy these crops from the farmers and get them here to the main land. I am just thankful that they exist.