Dickie Dee…Again

I suppose that when I was a kid if the ice cream guy came by I would run into the house and pester my mom for a popsicle, Buried Treasure, Creamsicle or any of a number of ‘sicle things. I would go to my mom because there was a very slim chance I would get one from her and no chance at all if I went to my dad. In those days, the ice cream man was a teenager peddling a bike with a large cooler on the front filled with his merchandise and probably dry ice to keep things cool. The kid would ring bells as he rode around the neighbourhood to give advance warning to all the kids that it was the time of day we should go and pester our moms.

Flash forward twenty five years or so and I would hear kiddie songs being played over a loudspeaker that heralded the arrival of the Dickie Dee ice cream guy into our neighbourhood. I hated that guy! Times had changed for the ice cream guys, now they drove trucks filled with more product and I imagine they were able to cover more ground, pissing off more parents as they did. I heard that sappy music and saw my kids make a beeline to their mom. It kind of hurt, but they knew that I would never buy anything from one of those guys. I wouldn’t buy anything if I were dying of thirst in a desert.

Sometimes, Louise wasn’t around when the ice cream guy came around and I would tell my kids that I would gladly take them to the corner store and buy them a popsicle. I knew that the store popsicles were ten times less expensive than from the truck. The kids would whine and say but “The popsicles in the truck are shaped like a rocket ship!” I would mutter something like “Sure they do, the prices are out of this world.” Let’s just say that if the kids have any ill feelings they harbour about me, one would be caused by the Dickie Dee guy.

I had the feeling then and I still have the feeling that May to September should be open season on Dickie Dee. I would gladly have shot and had the head mounted on my rec room wall. Maybe that’s just me and I need to see a therapist.

A couple of days ago I was sitting in the backyard enjoying unseasonably warm weather for June 1st when I heard the distant sound of music. The music came closer and a little more distinct as I knew that it would. I don’t have any little ones around any longer so I didn’t break out in a cold sweat. I was just intrigued by the selection. The ice cream guy was playing “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”. Personally, I love Christmas music and will listen to it year round. I am aware that a lot of people feel that it should only be played in the month or two leading up to Christmas. I can’t imagine what those parents of young kids were thinking when they heard the Christmas music being used to entice the kids to buy those rocket shaped popsicles.

I can almost hear the shotgun blasts...