Proof that the internet will always show love to hardworking corn slingers
Fontana resident and Twitter user @Skonkas0nly happened upon Luis, her local Elotero (Corn man) selling hot Elotes from his mobile cart in her neighborhood.
For the uninitiated, Elote is roasted corn that’s often slathered with salt, chile powder, butter, cotija cheese, lime juice and mayonnaise.
For no apparent reason other than to show Luis some love, she snapped a photo of his cart, posted it to her 1,400 followers, and demanded (in the most loving way possible) that they send him some money.
See, Luis has a sign that says “Aceptamos Pagos Con: Zelle (951) 727-6651 (I accept Zelle payments.)”
Luis is no ordinary corn man who only accepts cash, he accepts payment through the popular Zelle app. It makes buying Mexican street corn as easy as a few taps on your mobile phone, no fumbling around for cash.
Buying corn is cool.
It also means anyone who has Luis’s Zelle number can send him money from wherever, including anyone who sees it on Twitter.
Like most tweets from us regular people, she did not expect it to go as viral as it did.
At the time of this writing, her tweet has over 27,000 retweets, 1000 quote tweets, and 135,600 likes.
Check out her tweet below.
someone zelle him money for no reason rn pic.twitter.com/UqXbw036kW
— marilyn monHOE (@skonkas0nly) March 10, 2022
As you can imagine, the donations FLOODED in! Here are just a handful below.
Plz give us an update on his reaction to the love ??? pic.twitter.com/qOR4ZbBpd0
— sarai (@sjimenezzzzz) March 10, 2022
Luis about to get a cart with LED lights and whistles. No bells. Just WHISTLES!! pic.twitter.com/mLK2PBMC6D
— Jonny Gallegos (@Jonnygallegos) March 10, 2022
Luis says he’s so grateful ? pic.twitter.com/toSaOLk4gn
— Brianna Dahlquist (@bridahlquist) March 10, 2022
Luis’s Zelle account got so many donations at once, he was afraid he’d be in trouble with his bank.
small update: he didn’t go to work today because he went to the bank since he was scared he was gonna get in trouble from receiving all this money! ?
— marilyn monHOE (@skonkas0nly) March 10, 2022
I’m gonna meet him tomorrow and buy another corn from him, hopefully he has a message for y’all . Thank you all who donated!
— Silky Johnson (@Me_Grimlockk) March 10, 2022
“Good Morning, Thank You very much,” Luis replied to a message asking how much he made.
“I don’t know that, but today I woke up, and I was scared. I thought someone made a mistake. In fact, I didn’t even work, I went to the bank, so I can see if I can avoid problems.”
While there are limits to how much someone can send by Zelle in a day, most banks don’t limit how much you can receive.
Guesstimating, Luis probably received between $1,500-$5,000.
And, since it’s all donations, it isn’t taxed.
Most of those replying are Hispanic. They know how hard it is to make a living selling street food, especially in California.
Like most ethnic communities with ties to the motherland, they understand that lifting one person lifts everyone.
I’m sure Luis will use the donations to upgrade his cart and make his life a little better. In turn, Luis will be able to better help those he already supports.
Times are tough, no need to remind you that.
This is your reminder that, if you’re aware enough to recognize the abundant blessings and privileges in your life, to bless someone else you know has it that much harder than you to make an honest dollar.
And if you’re in South Fontana, keep your eyes peeled, you might run into Luis, the Elotero.
