There is at least one sober person on the streets of Campustown who doesn’t mind dealing with drunken people. He actually enjoys it most nights. Patrick Hamm has been employed as Cafe Beaudelaire’s sandwich cart salesman since September and says it is one of the best jobs he has ever had, despite the unusual hours and unpredictable weather.

So your sandwiches don’t look quite like gyros. What exactly are they?

We make Chacarero, which is a Chilean sandwich. It has guacamole, semi-spicy cilantro sauce, tomatoes and green beans. The green beans make the sandwich Chilean and we also have Muenster cheese. We also have kabobs, which come wrapped in a tortilla – we got chicken or beef. And we have fajita kabobs, also, which is just like the regular kabobs, except with lettuce and tomato. We also have a vegetarian sandwich; we have an egg plant Chacarero. We don’t advertise it yet because we don’t know how people will like it. We have something for everybody.

Because you deal with a nighttime crowd, what is the craziest thing you’ve seen so far when working?

I’ve seen a whole bunch of fights – usually about girls or someone insulting someone or something like that. They’re drunk – they’re really drunk. But usually they’re good tippers. People burn themselves on the grill a lot. They can’t read because they’re drunk, so they lean on it and it burns their sweaters. Stuff like that.

How do you think the other sandwich vendors affect your business?

I don’t think they affect us, but I also don’t think we affect them. I think there are just a lot of people. We’re doing pretty well, considering it’s the first location. This is a good location; I like this. I’d like to be inside where it’s warmer with less wind, but this is good. It’s on the corner so there’s a lot of traffic that comes by. A lot of people want us to give them food, like when they’re driving by, but unfortunately we can’t. I’ve brought up samples, but we’re kind of waiting until we can make some profit. I’d like to give some free samples to people. Most people like it; most people say it’s pretty good.

Are you finding that the people who are trying your sandwiches like them?

A lot of people shy away because it’s so different – especially because of the green beans. They’re like, “Green beans on a sandwich?” A lot of people mix it up with the gyro man. They wait in line and they ask for three gyros and I’m just like, “Sorry, we don’t have that.” Sometimes they do try it anyway, and usually people like it. There isn’t really anything I can even compare it to. The kabobs are a little like gyros – they come wrapped up, but that’s about as far as the comparison can go.

Do you have a lot of experience in food sales?

I am from California – Southern California, actually. I’m from Orange County. I moved here about a year ago. I moved here to go to school. My mom is a professor here and she convinced me to move out here. I go to DMACC, actually. I was going to finish my degree and then transfer to Iowa State. I’m majoring in sociology – that’s one of the reasons why I love this job. I get to see all different sorts of people and see how they act. The Campustown scene is really interesting. To observe from a sober standpoint is very interesting. I see some of the professors coming here to eat, so word is spreading I guess.

Who is the most interesting person you’ve ever meet when working?

There’s a guy that always comes by asking to use people’s cell phones. He never actually calls a number.

He just sits there and talks and then gives back the phone. He asked to use my phone and there was no number dialed but he was talking for 10 minutes. That was an interesting guy.