One of our favorite rites of passage each spring is our first trip to the ice cream store.  We have a great mom and pop ice cream store up the road that promises heaping scoops of decadent flavors for lower prices than the national chain stores.

This past weekend was glorious and we upstate New Yorkers emerged from our dens, squinting at that unfamiliar bright orb in the sky.  Finally…

I mentioned the ice cream store to Wes and his arm twisted quite easily and painlessly.  So we packed up the boys and happily made the short trip.

Since I’m a creature of habit, I opted for my two favorite flavors: peanut butter cup and cookie dough.  Does it get any better than that?

And then it happened.  The unthinkable.  A few licks in, those two beautiful scoops of ice cream slid right off my cone and plopped into a heap in the dirt.  I was horrified.

So I hopped back in line, empty cone in hand, and waited to tell my tale of woe.  Surely, they would understand my dilemma and place two more fat scoops of ice cream on that cone, right?  (I’d be happy with even just one…)

I was wrong.  When I finally made it to the window, the teen-age girl inside listened to my story with a blank look on her face and said, “You’ll have to pay for it.”

Would you believe me if I told you I teared up a bit?

I don’t know if it was the fact that we had left the rest of our money in our car across the road or that I didn’t feel like I should fork over the $2 that could be spent elsewhere.  Or possibly it was the injustice of it all.  (It became obvious to me that this wasn’t my fault when I saw someone else lose their ice cream just minutes later. )

I certainly don’t know what the typical protocol is when it comes to this dilemma.  Possibly this is a national standard.  But it simply didn’t feel right to me.

So, my question to you all is this:  What would you do if you faced this dilemma?  Would you simply walk away like I did?  Would you ask to speak to a manager? Or maybe you agree with the store’s policy?

I certainly don’t plan on boycotting the store or sending hate mail.  I simply will be extra careful licking my ice cream cone the next time we stop in.

Epilogue:  My super kind husband gave me the rest of his cone that day.  My hero.