Sunday, August 7, 2011

Lessons from Sponzpop

I was taking a walk the other day, totally consumed by my own thoughts.  I was in a bad mood and was feeling pretty bitter, making situations 200 times more complicated than they needed to be, and convincing myself there were no viable solutions.  There was an ice cream truck that had been following me it seemed for the entire 45 minutes playing “Turkey in the Straw” on repeat, and I was annoyed.  The dog had stopped to smell every possible trashcan, mailbox, light post, and telephone pole.  If the sun was shining or there were birds singing, I definitely didn’t see it or hear them, because I was royally pissed off at the world.

As I neared the ice cream truck for the 500th time, there were 3 small kids buying ice cream with someone who looked like their grandmother.  A bunch of people were sitting laughing on the porch, and the kids were jumping and arguing and trying to decide what they wanted.  Eventually, the ice cream truck drove away and each child had some wrapped treat in hand.  The littlest child—a little blonde boy who looked about 4 years old, had big glasses held on with a band stretched around his head, and was wearing nothing but a adult’s t-shirt—started running, awkwardly, to the porch, holding his wrapped ice cream.
“POP-POP!” he yelled excitedly.  “POP-POP!  I GOT SPUNZPOP!”
“You got what?” Pop-pop yelled back.
“SPUNZPOP!” he yelled again.  “SPUNZPOP WIKE IS FWOM TV!”
“Spongebob from TV?” Pop-pop said.  “That’s great.  Be careful with it, stop running.”
Kiddo stopped and started trying to tear into his Spongebob ice cream.
“POP-POP!” he said again, bouncing in his excitement.
“Yes son,” he answered.
“POP-POP I ‘MEMBER.  I ‘MEMBER POP-POP…YOU DON’T EAT THE STICK!”

“That’s right, son,” Pop-pop replied.  “Just eat the ice cream.  Don’t eat the stick.”
When did life get so complicated?  Don’t put peas up your nose.  Don’t hit your sister.  Don’t eat the stick on your popsicle. When did those rules stop being central, and when did Spongebob ice cream stop being the best thing ever?


(I mean seriously...who wouldn't love one of these?)
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3 comments:

  1. ReticulaAugust 7, 2011 at 3:06 PM

    I love this post. (I hate ice cream trucks though and nothing will change that.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. SarahAugust 7, 2011 at 3:21 PM

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AutodidactpoetAugust 7, 2011 at 10:45 PM

    I hate ice cream trucks, too. The one here just plays "Turkey in the Straw" over and over and over. The one in my neighborhood in OH would say, "Hel-LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" when it came into the apartment complex, and then would break into whatever tune it played. Scared the bajeezus out of me every.single.time.

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