The Free Table Nobody Trusted

Every Saturday morning, Maria Gonzalez sets up a folding table outside her bakery on Magnolia Street in downtown San Antonio. She covers it with a checkered cloth, loads it with fresh conchas, empanadas, and bolillos still warm from the oven, and props up a hand-painted sign: "Free. No catch. Just eat." Most people walk past. They glance sideways, suspicious. A few stop and ask what she's selling.…