Last year in April I took my family to see my old neighborhoods in College Point, New York. After visiting my favorite park and a little deli, we were going to find an old elementary school of mine. That’s when I heard THE jingle. Like one of Pavlov’s dogs, I immediately got excited — it’s Mister Softee! This franchise highlighted my childhood with frozen treats! I scanned the roads at the intersection we stopped at, saw the truck’s location, and made a quick turn.
Now, this is the part where my husband would chime in that he grabbed onto the door handle and braced himself for dear life. Of course, how could he know what that jingle meant if he hadn’t grow up with sugar cones full of soft-serve ice cream? I booked it around the block to park the rental van, grabbed my wallet, and got the kids to scamper with me across the street to wait for the driver to stop. I knew immediately what I wanted — soft-serve chocolate ice cream in a sugar cone absolutely coated in chocolate sprinkles. Sounds basic, but you can’t get this kind of ice cream anywhere else. The kids picked out their treats, and I picked a cone for my sweet but terrified hubby.
When it was time to settle up, I only had so much cash, and the driver didn’t take card. The sweetheart told me to just remember him later on. While I wasn’t going to be around, I still haven’t forgotten the kindness of an ice cream truck driver as he fulfilled one of my vacation to-do’s.
