I. LOVE. ICE. CREAM. I don’t really need any other dessert. I don’t mind them, but they’re basically irrelevant to me. I prefer my sugar and cream in the frozen form. Thank you.
And by ice cream, I mean Blue Bell. Obviously.
My mom instilled this love in me from a young age. Like I think since before I was born. We have always been well-known for our love of ice cream. She is still my favorite ice cream date.
In college (yep, I was a solid 18 years old), I was distraught to find out that a pint of ice cream, which I had always considered a “single serving” is in reality four servings. Four! Seriously. Who decided that?! Probably someone who hates babies and flowers and basically all things happy.
In high school, I wrote a five-page compare/contrast paper about coffee and ice cream. I ended it with this astute observation: “Coffee ice cream is the answer to all of our problems.” Yep. All of them. I’ve always leaned a little toward the dramatic.
I went to college in North Carolina in a town that, when I arrived, had neither a Starbuck’s nor Blue Bell ice cream. The struggle was real, y’all. Real. And not always pretty. Fortunately, I had a car, and I was not unwilling to drive the 30 minutes to the nearest Starbucks. But Blue Bell was not to be found.
Until my sophomore year.
When I heard the familiar jingle…you know the one:
I might have shed a few nostalgic and homesick tears. And then I heard the best news of the twentieth year of my life: Blue Bell had come to a Walgreen’s near me. I have never loved Walgreen’s more. Of course, the nearest Walgreen’s with Blue Bell was a 30 minute drive, but it was so worth it. I would load unsuspecting friends in the car for “ice cream” and then inform them that we were driving to Walgreen’s…in Greensboro. And then I would smile pretty. And I also had a pack of 100 plastic spoons in my glove compartment for these occasions. If you’re going to drive someone 30 minutes for the best ice cream they’ve ever tasted, you’d better be prepared to serve them said ice cream on the 30 minute drive home.
When I worked in youth ministry, I might have incorporated Blue Bell factory tours into the summer schedule. And just this January, I found out that my friend Lindsee, born and raised in Texas, had never been. This should not be. We remedied the situation before the week was over.
You can call me a lot of things. You cannot call me fickle. I take my ice cream (and my loyalty to Blue Bell) very seriously.
So you can imagine my concern over their recent recall. [Side note: I’m not 100% convinced this was not sabotage. Oh yes, I’m onto you. It was Colonel Mustard in the Country Store with the test tube. Side side note: the guilty party is always Mustard. I hate mustard just as much as I love ice cream.]
I have no doubt that Blue Bell will remedy the situation. No doubt at all. In the meantime, here is how I’m remaining loyal. You might give some serious thought to adopting these practices:
1. Positive social media campaign. Exhibit A: This blog post.
2. I will only buy frozen yogurt in sotres. No purchase of direct competitors. Yes, I know Blue Bell makes yogurt. But hi, people, this is real life and concessions must be made.
3. I will eat ice cream that I make myself. Because a girl’s gotta eat. There is no time like the present to start testing recipes in the fancy ice cream maker Kimi and Katie give me for my birthday.
4. I have also purchased and distributed some Blue Bell gifts. So far, all recipients have been adequately excited. I choose my friends well.#highstandards
5. I also got myself a coffee mug that looks like a Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Carton. Cue Sound of Music’s: “…these are a few of my favorite things…”
And just as soon as Blue Bell is back on the local shelves, well, you’ll know where to find yours truly.
And I just might already have some plastic spoons waiting in the glove compartment. I will be ready!
2 comments
2015: How Hope Returns - Cody Andras
December 31, 2015 at 4:58 am[…] A summer without Blue Bell is a sad, sad thing. But this too shall pass. And for me, the ice cream famine of 2015 ended with a coffee shake before work on the day that Blue Bell returned to stores. August 31, 2015-you were a glorious day! […]
2015: How Hope Returns - Cody Andras
December 31, 2015 at 4:58 am[…] A summer without Blue Bell is a sad, sad thing. But this too shall pass. And for me, the ice cream famine of 2015 ended with a coffee shake before work on the day that Blue Bell returned to stores. August 31, 2015-you were a glorious day! […]