You Got No Ice Cream!

I was driving along the other day when I got stuck behind some slow moving traffic going up a hill.

What was holding the traffic up? An elderly person driving 10mph? A tractor? A scooter? No, it was an ice cream van.

I live on a 'new build estate' where the houses are only 4/5 years old and I've never seen an ice cream van around here.  That makes me really sad.

Talk about tasteless!

When I was younger the ice cream van would always come around at the weekends.  I remember the look on my parents faces before I heard the chimes as my Sister and I would be busy playing.  It was so obvious my parents hearing was fine tuned and primed ready to try and distract us when they heard the fatal tune. They would look at each other as if to say "Oh shit, did you hear that? It's the ice cream van...quick distract the kids before they hear it".

"MUM!  DAD!  Can we have an ice cream pleeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase?

Too late.

I see ice cream vans quite a bit, usually at retail parks or in public parks like this rather lovely (!) one I snapped at Longton Park a few weeks back. I just don't see them on housing estates.  Well not ours anyway.

Do they still do it or is it dying out?  Do Mums and Dads now keep a stock of ice creams in the freezer?  I know we buy ice creams from the supermarket occasionally but it's always nice to buy one from the ice cream man as a special treat.

I'm really sad that Mini Cheddar won't be able to experience that full on excitement* of hearing the ice cream van in the distance and then hounding me for money.


....


*Talking about this makes me think about that famous Eddie Murphy stand-up sketch from Delirious which you can view here on You Tube.  A WARNING though - it contains bad language so only click on it when the kids are in bed and if you won't take offence!