Ice Cream Trucks Are Like Stray Cats

On Sundays, the HMA and I check in at Jenny Craig. (Our success or failure can change the mood of the entire day...) After that we do some grocery shopping and then the HMA hunkers down to watch the football. This leaves me a lot of time to do stuff. Stuff that is not very worthwhile, like watch Masterpiece Theatre. I know..Egads! A couple of weeks ago, I heard the sounds of an ice cream truck and wandered downstairs. Sure enough there was a van driving very slowly down the street with a (very bad canned) calliope music blaring. The HMA told me that when he was a kid, he used to go out and stop the ice cream truck and then go and find his mother and ask for money. "But Mom!!!  He's waiting!!!!" He mentioned that if he had any cash he might dash out and stop the truck. I had a fiver in my wallet, so I handed it to him and he made a quick exit out the front door. I'm not sure what kind of transaction took place in the middle of our street, but he returned a few minutes later with two ice cream sandwiches and no money. "I got one for you," he said. "Two ice creams cost five bucks?" It literally seemed like highway robbery to me. "No, he said, "I tipped the guy a dollar." Hmmmm... The next week the guy came buy again on Sunday afternoon. He didn't drive past our house...he just stopped right out front and waited. Eventually, the HMA went out and got an ice cream. The next Sunday, the HMA's son was visiting. He was surprised when his dad leaped to his feet and made a mad dash for the door at the first sounds of the ice cream truck. "Are you serious?" he asked. "We're getting ice cream?" That day it took awhile before they returned. "We couldn't decide what we wanted," was the excuse. Last Sunday, I heard the ice cream truck coming...and stop in front of the house. When I went downstairs I found the HMA sitting low in his chair -- hiding from the ice cream man. "I don't want him to think that I'm that easy." Eventually the ice cream man left. So I can hardly wait to see what happens this week. I'll keep you posted.