PHOENIX — A bit of cloud coverage brought little relief to the Valley's extreme heat Monday, but for some, there’s no choice but work under the blazing sun.
That’s what Darnell Smith, owner of Mr. Wonderful's Chicken & Waffles AZ, does over the summer, and he does with the nickname ‘Mr. Wonderful’.
He pedals seasoned, fried chicken paired with powdered sugar waffles that taste like funnel cake.
When there’s triple-digit heat, he gets one shot to leave a memorable impression on customers, so he can keep his truck running.
”I literally challenge people to say, it’s the best fried chicken I’ve had in my life,” he said.
That ‘Mr. Wonderful’ mindset isn’t always easy to maintain during extreme heat while fryers are running in a truck with no reliable source of air conditioning.
Smith says he’ll wrap a cool towel around his neck, use a swamp cooler and just keep his mind on his customers, rather than the heat.
”I really appreciate the customers that appreciate us being out here in this heat. I do it for the customers who look forward to this chicken, you can’t get this flavor anywhere else,” he said.
In Paradise Valley, crews with Goodman’s Landscape not only protect their skin from the sun with long sleeves, pants, and steel-toe boots but occasionally encounter other threats brought in by the heat, like the occasional snake.
When the sun beats down like it has been, supervisor Bill Potts shared a reoccurring thought, “In my line of work? I should have been a lawyer,” he laughed.
In all seriousness, Potts urges his crews to stay away from energy drinks.
He added his crews prepare for the heat by drinking water and eating fruits like watermelon the night before.
He also says after being in the heat for hours on end, five days a week, you start to build a tolerance, because everyone reacts differently in this kind of weather.
”I had a customer fall out on me while I was giving an estimate, had to call 911 and keep her cool, until paramedics got there,” he said.
A hard day’s work, even harder due to the heat.
