FRUIT STAND HELPS MAN LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT DAY

By: Areli Tovar

Francisco Hernandez’s day begins with filling up little baskets of fruits and vegetables. His van serves as his stall to display the fresh produce, honey and flowers, which help adorn his stand.

Some days he doesn’t sell, but other days he’s blessed to make enough money to get by.

“Hay días que no saco ni para la gasolina, pero en mi casa pues no puedo hacer nada. Aquí un poquito que saque es bueno,” Hernandez said.

(Some days I barely make enough money to get gas, but anything I earn is good.)

Hernandez has been selling at the same corner in Exeter for the past 12 years. Despite the ups and downs, he doesn’t plan on quitting any time soon;  he says that’s just part of being a local vendor. 

He loves his job because of the people he gets to meet and the many stories he has learned from them.

“Viene gente y nos ponemos a platicar. Mucha gente me cuenta sus historias y a veces yo les cuento la mia,” said Hernandez.

(People come and we start chatting. A lot of people tell me their stories and sometimes I tell them mine.)

Some days he gets to meet people from around the world, like Kim, who is visiting the U.S. from Australia on a cruise tour and just happened to be driving by Hernandez’s stand.

“I saw this fresh fruit stand here and I thought, wow, I need some fresh fruit and is locally grown and it’s perfect,” Kim said.

Hernandez grows some of the produce himself. Others he buys from local vendors, and his customers love that. Both locals and non-locals love buying from him because of the freshness and quality of the products.

“I just like supporting the local farmers and the people that are selling the produce, and you get better quality produce, I think, at these stands,” Gavin Abel said.

Local vendors can get lucky on any given day, but other days they don’t sell at all. Alejandra Gutierrez is a local flower vendor. She understands the struggles.

“Aveces hay venta, y aveces no. Y no ganamos igual que los negocios. Que todos los días ellos ganan llueva o truene y uno que es ambulante no,” Gutierrez said.

(Sometimes we sell, and sometimes we don’t. We don’t earn as much as big businesses who earn every day, whether it rains or there’s thunder.)

Twelve years ago, Hernandez found out he had colon cancer. It completely changed his life. His doctor told him he would never be able to work again.

“Me dijo que tenia que ir con un curologo para que me hicieran una colonoscopia y una biopsia y en la biopsia salio positivo el cancer,” said Hernandez.

(I was told I had to go to a curologist to get a colonoscopy and the biopsy came back positive with cancer.)

After dozens of treatments, Hernandez survived to tell his story. He knew he couldn’t stay home and do nothing for the rest of his life because that would only make him depressed.

This is where the idea of opening a fruit stand began, and until this day, he continues to run it.

His fruit stand is what kept him alive.