00:00There's a new hot dog stand in Washington, D.C. that's getting a lot of buzz.
00:04It's iconic, actually.
00:06Isaac Stein is an IRS lawyer who decided to run a hot dog stand called Shysters during the government shutdown.
00:12Now he's making international headlines.
00:15I did not expect this level of attention.
00:19Stein is furloughed and is taking the opportunity to live out his childhood dream.
00:23The moment for me as to when I thought that I would want to be a vendor was when I was in seventh grade.
00:28And I was way more interested in selling chips and soda than I was in the game.
00:33Did you ever think you'd get this much attention for a hot dog stand?
00:36No, I thought that it would be cash flow positive and commercially successful.
00:40But as I've tried to explain, this was 70% a backyard art project where I was just trying to bring my unique sense of humor or attempted humor to people and make them laugh and smile.
00:55So far it's been a success.
00:57Sales are great.
00:58In fact, he sold out Tuesday.
01:01And the locals love him.
01:02But I love seeing him out there selling some hot dogs looking all sexy.
01:05Heck yeah.
01:07Most dapper guy selling dogs in all of D.C.
01:10Despite being out of office, he's still showing up to work every day wearing a suit and tie.
01:15It's just part of the shtick.
01:16It's my attempt at performance art.
01:18Also part of the performance art, the menu, which describes the hot dog stand as the only honest ripoff in D.C.
01:25Stein sells the only choice, which is a hot dog with spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut, a hot dog with the wrong toppings, which sells for a dollar more, dog treats, and overpriced mediocre merchandise, which includes the shirt off his back for $1,000.
01:40Would you really sell the shirt off your back for $1,000?
01:43Absolutely.
01:44And then I would stop sales, go home, and probably go to the gym and read the paper.
01:51Stein says he wants to return to his job at the IRS, but he'll enjoy this while it lasts.
01:56I love hearing about people's days, how they're doing, and it's kind of, you get a window into, you get a window into the community, and that's really, I'm really all about it.
02:07I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Arrow News.
02:09For more unbiased reporting from the street corners of our nation's capital, download the SAN app.
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