What The Ice Cream Man Should Know

A few days ago my Mom and I were sitting talking in the house when we heard the local ice cream truck coming down the street.

We all know the familiar sound of the ice cream truck … those unmistakable carnival-like tunes – sort of like an old music box that got wound too tightly and changes speed from time to time … without any assistance from the operator of the vehicle!

Casually I glanced up at the clock. It was only about 9:30 a.m.

Hmmmmmm … this brought three consecutive thoughts to mind.

My first thought was, ‘Wow – I haven’t seen the ice cream man around here in months.’
My second thought was ,‘9:30 in the morning? Isn’t that a strange time for the ice cream man to come by?’
My third thought was, ‘Why are my kids not running out here to ask me for money for ice cream?!’

Now, it is true that at this point, I have 4 teenagers in my bunch, but everyone knows you don’t out-grow buying ice cream from the ice cream man until you are about 28 years old … which is just about the time your own kids are becoming old enough to buy ice cream from the ice cream man … and, of course – you have to start all over again and show them the ropes! Wink, wink!

So I said to my Mom - “Remember last summer when the ice cream man came each day for about a 2 weeks in a row around 3:30 in the afternoon?” Naturally, we were out there to buy from him everyday. We even got a cool ‘punch card’! (You know the type, a ‘Buy 10, get 1 FREE’ deal!)

We would wait for him...
Listen for him ...
Look for him …
Drool!

Then, the moment we heard that rickety little truck turn the corner on to our street – away we would fly to the curb to flag him down. It was the greatest ritual! But then … at the end of that week, he just suddenly stopped coming by. 

We were all so disappointed. So much for the brief family tradition we had come to rely on.

A few weeks later, he came back again – this time I think it was around 11:00 a.m. About 4 days after that? At 6:30 p.m.

Both of those times we missed him - because we weren’t expecting him! We just couldn’t get our money and our bodies together in time to hustle out in front to catch him before he went by – because the routine had been broken.

So what’s the moral to this story? (that the ice cream man obviously doesn’t know!)

If you want the best results … be it in business, relationship, parenting … whatever - you must be consistent.

Consistent hours; consistent prices; consistent products or services; consistent rules.

Humans really are creatures of habit … you gain people’s confidence when they know they can really count on you.

So, if you want to achieve your desired results – you must remember to be consistent.

Look, I have 5 kids and two adults in my house – one stop at my front curb nets the ice cream man about $12 … if he came religiously every day (and my piggy bank never ran out of ‘fun money’!) that’s $4,380 per year … just from my household alone!!!!

Imagine what he would make if he did that times only 25 houses? … $109,500 annually!!!

Someone needs to tell this to my ice cream man! It’s been 107 degrees for a week, and WOW - do we ever miss him!

Until Next Time …

Hugs (from the closet),

KimbraLee =)

P.S. – On second thought … Shhhh! No one tell my ice cream man … I’m think I’m changing professions!