Q: When did you sell hot dogs?
A: I was 19 years old. It was the middle of my second year in college.

Q: What made you choose this job?
A: I filled out the application. It wasn’t anything dramatic or anything. You know, around November … the first love of your life breaks up with you because you literally have no money, and you’re feeling like you need something to do with yourself. I don’t really remember but I’m sure they called me in a few days, asked me a few questions, and then I started the next day.

I worked there part-time for four months, and then I worked there full-time for four years.

Q: What was the name of the place?
A: It was called Yum Yum Better Ice Cream and Hot Dogs.

It’s an institution in Greensboro-that’s where I went to school.

Q: Was it some kind of hot-dog stand?
A: No, it was a family-run restaurant, run by two brothers who didn’t speak to each other. They took turns managing-never at the same time, though.

It was right across from campus and there’d be lines of people. They had indoor and outdoor seating. For the Saturday lunch rush, there would be 13 people making ice cream and hot dogs.

It was an all-cash business. The lines would be so long you wouldn’t punch the numbers into the cash register, you’d just do the math in your head and hit “Cash Out.”

We sold ice cream, hot dogs, glass-bottle Cokes, and potato chips. We didn’t have fries or anything. Just simple stuff.

Q: Did you smell good when you got home?
A: The toppings were onions, coleslaw, chili, and mustard. The onion smell just hovers. It’s just on you. And when you’re 19 or 20, showering is not your top priority.

You’d bend down to scoop the ice cream and you’d end up with this chocolate-strawberry glaze on your forearm, too. You get used to the smell. I’m not sure if other people did, but I got used to it.

Q: Did you eat hot dogs?
A: Every day. They were only 70 cents to begin with and I got half off, so you’re talking 35 cents for a hot dog!

In fact, I just went to visit a friend in New York City and before we went to a party I had to go across the street and have a few. I had five or six by the end of the night. In fact, well, this is kind of embarrassing, but I had hot dogs for lunch today.

Q: Did your friends know you worked there?
A: Yeah. Of course. Everyone I knew worked there at some point.

My best friend moved to Greensboro at one point and we worked the split shift together for eight months. 11-2 and 6-10. So not only did we live together but we went to work at the same time.

Q: Are you still friends?
A: We’re still friends, but probably because he lives in New York now.

Q: Did you have to wear a uniform?
A: You had to wear a Yum Yum baseball cap or a paper cap. Also a Yum Yum T-shirt that was just filthy. The people who worked there were not the most ambitious or cleanest people. I remember fighting for the good aprons. The ones that weren’t torn or dirty or had strings that were too short.

Q: Any perks to working there?
A: I had a skill-I could look under the Coke caps and tell you whether or not it was a prize winner. I won three trips to King’s Dominion one summer, and got to eat free McDonald’s every day. People were always giving me Cokes, asking me which one was a winner. You couldn’t see what the caps said, but you just knew there was a prize.

Q: Any other interesting things about the job?
A: We were open on Christmas Eve and, depending on the manager, alcohol was allowed.

So there was a lot of drunkenness. At one point, a guy lay down in the back and wanted to find out how many 50-pound bags of sugar we could pile on him until he couldn’t take it.

Q: So how many could he take?
A: Four? It was a long time ago.

Q: Would you say it was a good job?
A: It was a great job because there was so much play time, throwing rags, goofing off.

Q: Is it still open?
A: Yes. It’s been 10 years but I went back not long ago and I recognized all but one employee. It’s the kind of place where you work there during school, maybe drop out of school, and if you have no ambition it’s a fine place to stay.

~interview by Suzanne Yeagley, as seen in McSweeney’s.