31 FLAVORS

I mentioned a short while back that Cliff and I will be putting on an ice cream social in August, and as a result got into an email “discussion” with LynnM about what flavors I should have. And in the process, she mentioned that she likes Breyer's ice cream, and I wrote back that I like Baskin Robbins. And that put me in mind of a couple of Baskin Robbins stories -- one true, and one a joke.

Now I’m going to turn things around from my usual procedure, and tell the joke first.

One fine spring morning two robins were high up on a branch of a tree, above a freshly plowed field. One bird turned to the other and said, “Let’s fly down to that field and have breakfast. That field should be just loaded with tasty worms.” The other agreed, and down they flew. They found lots and lots of yummy worms, and ate and ate and ate, until they were so full, and the day was so nice and warm, that they fell asleep right there on the ground.

Then along came a cat, saw the birds, and gobbled them down, thinking to himself as he licked his chops, “I just love basking robins!”

And now the true story:

Just down the street from where I live is a 31 Flavors Baskin Robbins ice cream store. Am and I were in there so often that one of the clerks there - Casey - recognized us. It was coming up on our 31st wedding anniversary, and I thought it would be neat to have an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. So several days before THE day, when Amalie was off doing something else, I went down to Baskin Robbins, saw Casey, and ordered an ice cream cake with the proper inscription, of course.

Apparently Amalie had the same notion, and a day or two later she went into the store to order a cake. But Casey wouldn’t sell her one. “How about that one there”, said Am pointing to one in the case. “Oh, you don’t want that one. It’s so old it’s stale,” said Casey. And anything Am tried for, Casey had a way to turn it away. I learned all this when Am came home with a most puzzled look on her face. When I asked her what was wrong, she told me what had happened. It was all I could do to keep a straight face.

Now I’m not really sure how Amalie came to find out the truth -- this was 8 years ago -- but it might have been something like this:

We’d invited a friend or two to join us, and I probably asked one to pick up the cake -- it was all paid for. So when our friend arrived, Amalie was most surprised, and of course the whole story came out. We all had a good laugh over that, but can you imagine a store refusing to sell its product to a well-known customer? Unbelievable!