January 27, 2018

It's tough to get up every AM and bust your ass to feed yourself.

Too many people in North America rest on easy desk jobs where you show up, punch some buttons on your keyboard, take federally mandated breaks and a 30-45 minute lunch hour and go home knowing that every two weeks or so money will just show up in your bank account like magic.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Which is why I'm a little bit obsessed with the banana bread guy here in Caye Caulker where we're staying.

Dude gets up every morning and bakes banana bread and other tasty goodies fires on a big, tall white chefs hat and apron and bikes around the island yelling

TASTE BELIZE

FRESH BAKED BANANA BREAD

and if he sees you then oh boy

he'll turn his bike around and ride up next to you

"hey, sweetie" he'll say "you wanna buy some fresh baked banana bread?"

and if you don't, which I often don't because we're usually full of lobster or conch or fry jacks he'll say "okay, I'll catch you later. I'll find you when you're hungry."

and he'll ride off on his big metal cruiser bike to talk to the next group of people walking up the street, or sitting at a table, or lying on the beach and yell

TASTE BELIZE

FRESH BAKED BANANA BREAD

at them until someone finally caves and buys a slice of the damn banana bread already.

Then in the evening he takes his boat back to the North Island where he lives and you can see him ferrying people back and forth in-between banana bread pickups in exchange for gas money and a small fee.

Dude is hustling 24/7 and has no problem literally yelling at you until you cave to the sheer force of his will, which I love because people in North America are so timid and polite. We say oh sorry and oh thanks and please will you do this?

and we sit in cubicles being quiet and keeping our heads down and hoping that nobody notices us unless we do something spectacular but even then we say "oh it's no big deal" and we downplay things because heaven forbid we stand out or offend someone.

But down here in Belize that's not an option for most people, so instead you make money the best way you know how:

by making things yourself and harassing people until they buy them from you like the banana bread guy does.

Honestly though I just want to know how the he keeps that chefs hat so clean and white all the time.