Please, Mr. Softee!
A car at its slowest is still a lot faster than two kids—even two kids who are desperate for dessert. My sister, Kassie, and I realized this last summer, when we encountered an ice cream truck that didn’t seem very interested in selling us ice cream. We heard its jolly music before we got a glimpse of the truck, and quickly slid on our flip-flops to go find it. Little did we know, this was one stubborn machine.
When we started down the stairs, I noticed that the truck was going a little faster than something expecting to serve customers normally would. I thought the driver must be looking around for people, though, and when he saw us, he’d park.
This was some pretty fair reasoning, but I was wrong. The truck kept moving, even when we were right next to it. The music was playing loud and clear, with all the signs of a perfectly functional machine looking to hand out frozen treats, but it didn’t seem like that was its intention at all. We chased the truck furiously, even with the hot sun beating down on us. We were simply determined to catch that truck!
Soon we took our flip-flops off, since they only limited our speed, but now, with the asphalt burning the soles of our feet, we started to get really annoyed. We followed the truck for a little while longer but were forced to give up about two minutes later when the truck sped up again.
We had been yelling and screaming for nearly seven blocks. What’s the point of an ice cream truck that strongly refuses to hand out ice cream? Tired and angry, we wondered this as we hung our heads for the long walk home.
Back at our house, I remember feeling frustrated and confused. Kassie and I had sprinted for seven blocks and lost all our breath in the end, and for absolutely nothing in return. Now Kassie was whining about walking the 12 blocks to the corner store so we could buy slushies instead.
It was a terrible experience when it happened, but looking back on it today, I can laugh about it. Although I didn’t want to admit it at the time, it was actually kind of fun! Kassie and I kept looking at each other like “What is this guy’s deal?” We both realized that there was something not just annoying about it, but also funny.
Maybe I wouldn’t want to do it again, but it was an interesting experience that I’ll always remember. I think my sister and I will look back on when we’re all grown up and think it’s even more funny than we do now.