Kymberli Mulford is the proud mom of a grade-schooler and high-schooler in the Chicago suburbs, and the proud grandmother of her now-grown stepson’s four children. When she’s not shuttling her sons from one activity to another, she works in the world of educational technology – as a district administrator, a learning facilitator, a consultant, and as a blogger at Onionskin. For more of Kymberli’s “mom” posts click here!
I try pretty hard to be creative with my gifts to my children’s teachers. I thought I was doing pretty well with my “Relax: Treat Your Mind and Body” theme this time. (Translation: Borders gift card and Bath & Bodyworks gift card…) I was just a little tickled when Andrew said, “Oh, yeah! That’s a great idea!” Of course, if you know Andrew, you know that there’s a pretty good chance that he’s going to make another suggestion a few minutes later. Sure enough, almost without missing a beat, he added, “You know what would make it an ever better idea… We could make it ‘Mind, Body and Soul.”
I imagined him making a selection from the local Christian store. No, maybe that’s not what he meant. From the local music store? No, I don’t think he’s been exposed to “soul music” as a genre yet. Hmmm, better seek clarification. I turned to see a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I think she’d think that ICE CREAM would be good for the soul on a hot summer day, don’t you?” Wow, that’s a great idea! Sure, we can stop by one of the local places to make that addition. Wait, tomorrow’s the last day of school. OK, so we’re going to make this stop between karate classes…
That’s how we ended up at Dairy Queen at 6:30 tonight. Andrew was of course more excited about making his ice cream selection than about getting the card. OK, you won’t believe this, but I don’t really like ice cream. No really, it’s true. I can take it or leave it. So my kids get to go out for ice cream like, maybe, twice all summer? Poor deprived things. You may know about the type of employees this establishment boasts. Generally high school kids, with an occasional adult, but there were none of the latter tonight. I asked for a gift card and got blank looks. I waited patiently impatiently, as they pawed through drawers and disheveled corners. I rolled my eyes (I admit it) and mentioned that this seems to happen every June, that they don’t seem to know how to manage gift cards, just at the time when gift card sales might be entering an all-time high potential for the season. The young man stopped pawing, looked up and said, “Sor-Ree! Geez!”
Wordlessly, I turned on my heel and steered my son out the door. In the parking lot I reassured him that we’d go to another ice cream place to make both purchases. “Like WHERE?!?!?” he asked. Poor deprived child. “Um… how about Baskin Robbins?” He lit up, so we headed to the only place I could recall seeing a Baskin Robbins before, which was in a Dunkin Donuts. We got in line behind a lot of people ordering frozen coffee. Twelve minutes later, it was our turn. I asked for a gift card. Blank stare. Gestured with my hands, making a rectangle. Perhaps a language barrier? “Ahhh, yesss.” He pulled out a gift card — for Dunkin Donuts. I shook my head. Donuts aren’t good for the soul on a hot summer day. “No card for Baskin Robbins?” No… I turned on my heel again, exasperated. My son followed. Poor thing. In the van, I said, “OK, where else can we get ice cream?” My son said, “You’re asking ME?” “What town does your teacher live in? Did she ever mention that?” Amazingly, he knew the answer. Wow. Stroke of good luck. “OK, so we’ll go there. It’s only ten minutes from here.” And a whole lotta gas for a gift card… but hey, this was his contribution to the gift.
We drove there, singing to the radio, and arrived at a large center of town intersection which boasted strip malls with major anchor stores. Perfect spot for a small shop! Would there be an ice cream place??? We trolled all four lots. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. “Hmmm. There’s that place that’s over by our dentist…” Sadly ironic, hm? Nonetheless, we turned the van in that direction. We pulled up to a place called Kaleid-o-scoops, and headed in. It was apparent from the moment we set foot in the place that English was not the preferred language here. I repeated my question and gestures from Dunkin Donuts. “Aaaaah!” Her eyes lit up… and then she shook her head. “No, we no have. No ‘git kahd’ hee.” My son was already at the door, head down.
We picked up big brother Alex from karate, and Andrew sadly recounted our travels. Alex seemed disinterested, and was quiet for a moment. “Well, actually, the best ice cream in town is at Oberweis…” Andrew and I both gasped and looked at each other gleefully! “That’s a GREAT idea! Oberweis! Why didn’t we think of it before?!? We go there all the time during the summer concerts that the library hosts! Wow! How’d we forget about Oberweis?!?!? Thanks, Alex!” Andrew yammered on about this for a long time… Even better, it was on our way home.
We sang louder to the radio, and triumphantly pulled into the parking lot. Oh. My. Goodness. Apparently the summer concert series started tonight. Full attendance for a great band outdoors on the pond. And the line at Oberwies was… wrapped around the building. It was almost 8:30. Both boys have school tomorrow. It would be 9:30 by the time we got home if we stood in that line. So as I grasped around for something to say to my youngest, he piped up and said, “You know, Mom, it’s OK. We can just go with your idea after all.”
My heart melted. This maturity from a tired kid who had, after all, been deprived of ice cream FOUR times in one night. We doubled back a few blocks and picked up McFlurries. By the time we got to the drive-thru, Alex had volunteered to make an “Ice Cream Certificate” card to which Andrew could attach a $10 bill. In the end, I was proud of my boys.
Immensely.
But there is something here that bothers me, deeply, about the unavailability of the product or service which I wanted. It’s such a simple thing. And yet, it somehow reminds me of another post, in which I was startled about the level of customer service…
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