Food stall... out of the rubble

One day, as I was riding down a big busy boulevard around my area, I noticed a new food stall selling fresh Bánh xèo. Why, this Vietnamese pancake dish is sold all over the city in the streets and alleyways, sometimes made with very basic home cookware. So why did I notice this one? Well, because the tiny street eat stood at the edge of an empty, dusty, demolished site.

 Well, they couldn't have a backdrop that worked more to their advantage, I thought to myself, as I rolled up beside the street "resto". Any passerby would notice this stall as it clearly stood out in the middle of this vast deserted lot. I asked the lady wiping down the neatly propped up metal tables if they were open. She nodded and placed me at one of the tables. I ordered a serving of the bánh xèo and the lady proceeded to cooking. Another lady swept the premises, although to me this deed seemed obsolete as we were planted in the middle of a large dust warp. I opened a wet nap provided and wiped down my hands which seemed so parched amidst the breezes of sand.

I asked the lady about the site. Isn't there going to be construction here? To my dismay, she replied yes. They were scheduled to start construction in several months (I forgot the exact amount, but she said the exact number of months). So, you're only here for [x] months? She confirmed affirmatively. She has the actual permit to set up her stall out here, attached to the pole hanging up the tarp. So she knew about the construction plans... she was not just a hustler illegally selling food and trying to take advantage of the empty space...This was an organized plan... I ate my food, which was tasty as expected.

But why did you decide to set up shop here, knowing that this space is only available for very little time? She told me that she was desperate, and she needed to take all of the opportunities to make the money.

A few months vacancy right before construction is set to start may seem like a feeble and futile window for Westerners to even think about doing business... but for many Vietnamese, survival means seizing all of the opportunities in sight, no matter how big or small.