Mexican flower vendors

One my drive home from work each day, I see Mexican guys trying to sell flowers, standing on the curbs by freeway entrances and exits that have stoplights. After seeing them all week, I got to wondering whether any of them ever make a sale: I haven't seen anyone buy flowers yet. And I'm sure they make a sale here and there; otherwise they wouldn't come back.

That got me to wondering whether there's some sort of demographic they target.

Given that the particular time of day is when most people get off work and then sit in traffic, the cynic in me thinks that the buyers are probably making their purchases for reasons other than being considerate. A man doesn't have to plan the purchase of these flowers in advance, and even if he did, it's not guaranteed that the seller will be there.

My hypothesis is that these traffic light flower vendors' target market is men whose wives or girlfriends are upset that they're coming home late from work, and these busy guys are grasping for any quick fix. In that kind of situation, there's a lot of potential to jack the price way up. Personally, I am not yet decided on whether I would ever buy flowers from a Mexican traffic light flower vendor, but I wonder if, next time, I should at least ask them for a price in order to get more information.

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