So there are a lot of things that people will get into fights over these days. It seems as it can be almost anything that will lead to violence although in this case I am happy to see that it is good ol' fashioned money and not politics that was the main factor in the fracas.
The incident happened outside Petco Park, which is the baseball stadium grounds for the San Diego Padres. There was no game that I am aware of and the articles I have read don't indicate what was going on but for whatever reason, there were hot dog venders from both San Diego and rival hot dog sellers from Los Angeles that were all in the same plot of land.
src
The problem began with San Diego hot dog venders noticed some out of towners who were encroaching on their turf. There were thousands of people as potential customers and someone took offense to this and decided to turn up the heat when an argument broke out and eventually a 21-year old hot dog vender decided to stab one of the visiting vendors in the back, literally.
src
When police finally got a call the argument now involved 15 or more people and pushing and shouting was escalating. When the police got there they of course just pepper-sprayed everyone, as is tradition. I'm not saying that was the correct choice, but it very well may have been the only choice.
It was mentioned by some people on the scene that the argument may have started because the San Diego dog sellers are required to have permits, that they presumably pay for, in order to be there. The L.A. hot dog sellers are not even eligible for these permits and were selling illegally. I don't know how you feel about "permits," I'm generally not a fan when the government sells rights to certain people, but I can kind of understand how the SD people would have a problem with a bunch of outsiders who didn't even go through the boring legal process, showing up and taking profits that could be their own.
So we are stabbing people over hot dogs and money now. What a wonderful time to be alive!
