I am not really an advocate of street hawking or road hawking because of the dangers involved but what to do... One must survive in whatever means possible.
The point where I really hate it is when you see underage kids frantically running after vehicles just to make sales when they are supposed to be in school. The parents give the excuses of burdensome school fees and how they can't afford to pay. The government has failed both old and young.
Back to the topic, it has been a noticeable experience for road travelers to encounter road hawkers at several strategic points during their journey.
There are many things that can be sold on the road or during traffic, some of them include snacks like gala, biscuits, cheese ball and so on. They can sell bread, accessories for cars, board games, bottle and sachet water, drinks of all kind be it diet or energy drinks like Coca-Cola, Fanta, la casera, malt, predator and so on.
There was one time I do frequently travel through the Ife road in Osun state and to my surprise, these people sell freshly fried bean cake. Well it's a street food though but hawking it on busy express was an understatement. It tasted good and came in handy for most of us that don't do breakfast when traveling early in the morning.
These people engage in this hawking activity not because they totally love it but because they have no jobs or no money and they need to fend for themselves. Not like there is so much gain whatsoever, I mean there are 5 to 6 persons try to sell the same product, the competition is high. Thus, it entails the survival of the fittest.
I have heard of stories where most of these street hawkers were involved in accidents when they loose consciousness of their environment or when reckless drivers ram into them. Another casualty these people face is that they are victims of fake money, some customers give them fake monies. Also, some drivers speed off when they collect goods and don't pay them their money. Victims of harassment too.
You see the risk involved, but in all they have got to survive. Come to think of it, they have actually helped travelers in one way or the other. For instance, traveller's buy stuff like bread, chin chin and so on to take back to their families. They quench thirst of people in traffic by providing extremely cold drinks and water.
In all, I only wish that child hawking be abolished. It is dangerous and they are faced with various atrocities. Some people don't pay, they manipulate the kids, pedophiles take advantage and so many more.
Thank you for reading my blog ❤️