July 28, 2006

Dancing with roses

Rose seller Francisco Bautista has been an essential part of Aborn Road for more a decade

By Jeff Frazee
Times Staff

Twelve years ago, Francisco Bautista moved to San Jose to be near his wife’s grown children.

Francisco Bautista helps Gene and Veronica Rodriguez select a $5 bouquet of roses. The Rodriguez's have been buying roses from Bautista's roadside flower stand for five years. Bautista also offers fine quality roses at $10 and $15 a dozen. Photos by Jeff Frazee

Already a senior citizen, he did not want to look for a factory job like he had been doing in Los Angeles before coming to San Jose.

Bautista found a better calling – selling roses along Aborn Road, something he has been doing daily for more than a decade.

“A gringo gave me my first job selling flowers, and he wanted me to wave the flowers around to get people’s attention,” said Bautista, who now works for himself selling roses. “I didn’t like doing that because it damaged the flowers.”

Bautista made a bouquet of artificial flowers that looked real from a distance. He used this bouquet to wave in front of customers. Now that Bautista was working with a more durable prop, his flower waving turned into the theatrical show you can see any given day on Aborn Road, near Pomeroy Avenue.

Passing Nieman Boulevard, you can see Bautista’s white Plymouth Voyager, and if you are lucky, you might see him throw his plastic bouquet 15 or 20 feet in the air, catching it with the grace and pride of a matador. Adorning the Plymouth and the surrounding trees are decorations that match Bautista’s acrobatic flare. There are Mexican and American flags, a sign reading, “$5 Roses,” and two plastic Barbie busts.

Cars routinely honk, and people wave as Bautista serves customers, he said. Gene and Veronica Rodriguez have been buying flowers from Bautista for five years.

“We like him. He’s real charismatic,” said Gene Rodriguez.

For most of the last 12 years, Bautista was on the busier corner of Aborn and Capitol Expressway. Recently, another group of licensed flower sellers set up their stand within feet of Bautista’s business. Tired of the constant competition, Bautista moved up Aborn several blocks. Business has slowed a little bit, but Bautista said, “They’re young. They can do any kind of work. I’m old. I need this work.”

Reflecting on his past Bautista said, “When I was first in the United States I was sleeping under bridges. Now I’m my own boss. I love doing the flowers. As long as there is a job and no one bothers me, I’ll stay right here.”