By Sara Hennes, Kelly Robinson and Paula Wolfe
It was 108 degrees at lunchtime in front of the Chase building on Central, but hotdog seller David Tonstad wasn’t sweating it. Like many other Phoenix natives he seemed unfazed.
“It’s hot, but it could be a lot worse,” said Tonstad, who works outside all day, Monday through Friday.
Tonstad said the worst conditions he’s worked in as owner and operator of Dad’s Lunch Box included temperatures of 118 degrees, with humidity and no wind. But for these typical mid-June conditions, he has strategies that keep him comfortable.
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| Whittanie Tonstad soaks up some sun at her father's hot dog stand. |
His daughter Whittanie, 13, in charge of the cash box, nodded her agreement though she was only half covered by the umbrella and admitted she wasn’t wearing sunscreen.
“I’m used to it,” Whittanie said. “And we’ll get in the pool when we go home.”
Michael Corroo, working outside every day as a downtown Phoenix ambassador, said people who have lived all their lives in Phoenix “just deal.”
“I’m used to it,” said Corroo. “As used to it as I can be.”
As a downtown ambassador, Corroo hears the same comments over and over from tourists and from people coming out of air conditioned office buildings.
“They say, ’Can you turn down the temperature a little bit?’ But we can’t do that. Usually people just say, ‘Gosh it’s hot today,’” Corroo said. “It is. So we tell them to drink lots of water and stay in the shade.”
Tonstad said he’s not sure the heat has affected his business yet, but he has changed his schedule.
“We try to come a little bit earlier because it’s cooler to set up if it’s earlier,” Tonstad said.
Corroo, whose eight hour shifts span the hottest parts of the day, said it’s just a different experience.
“I talk to people from back east,” said Corroo. “I wouldn’t know what to do in a blizzard. How do you live in that? It’s just different extremes.”
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