Most people probably wouldn’t prefer to come home covered in ice cream every day, with hot fudge staining their shirt and chocolate jimmies in their shoes. However, you don’t really have a choice if you work at an ice cream shop. Besides the scooper in your hand and your cool, confident swagger that can only be compared to mint chocolate chip, here are 11 more signs.
1. You know where the ice cream is in the freezers
If you work at an old school ice cream shop, the names of the ice cream aren’t even written on the freezer. You know them by heart, and you don’t just know WHERE the ice cream is, you basically know EVERYTHING about it. If ice cream was interviewing you, you’d totally kill it.
Vanilla? Oh yeah, that one is wicked hard, but it’s on the right side in the corner.
Moose Tracks? There’s only enough left for a small cone and most of it is fudge, so you’re gonna need to break it up first.
Cotton Candy? Make sure you hold the scooper at an angle to get the best pink-to-blue ratio.
2. You’re a pro at NOT breaking cones
Every scooper’s saving grace is when a kid orders an ice cream in a plain cone, or a dish. Sugar cones are temperamental and waffle cones are just flat out mental. It’s like they want to break so you have to start all over again. But you’re an expert at holding the cone just the right way and applying the perfect amount of pressure so the cone doesn’t completely shatter into a million pieces. Easiest way to spot a new scooper: broken cones. We’ve all been there at one point or another, and hearing a cone crunch is a very depressing sound. The only thing worse than a broken cone is a crying child, so always be mindful of the tiny humans and their feelings when scooping.
3. You make frappes, banana splits, and hot fudge sundaes like it’s nobody’s business
And basically anything else that requires more than a scooper. You know how much milk is needed to make the ultimate frappe, what order to put the ice cream on a banana split, and you have the golden touch when it comes to hot fudge. Or you might have a heavy hand and drop a few extra globs on top, but who cares because hot fudge makes everything better
4. You come home covered in ice cream
And everything else you can spill on yourself.
“Is that Chocolate on your arm?”
“No, it’s actually Mocha Chip.”
Ice cream scoopers can’t be afraid of getting their hands a little dirty. They spend their shifts making ice cream look even more magical than it already is. I mean… what kid doesn’t want rainbow sprinkles? And hot fudge? Yeah, that’s gonna stain. Along with the cherry juice. But the good news is the whipped cream in your hair will wash out!
5. You can make change before the cash register
Easy peasy. Where I work, a small is 99 cents, but it’s $1.08 with tax (customers love hearing that). A medium is $2.17 and a large is $3.26. Oh, someone is ordering two smalls with rainbow sprinkles? That’ll be $2.44. Paying with a $20? No problem. Your change is $17.56. Whatever the prices are where you work, you know them cold, and after a long shift, you’re making change in your head as you go to sleep. It’s a blessing and a curse.
6. Tips are your saving grace
Dividing up tips at the end of a shift is nothing short of rewarding, and coming home with a little extra cash puts a smile on anyone’s face. You know that whenever your family members come by to satisfy their Maple Walnut craving (Dad, I’m looking at you), they’re dropping a $5 or maybe even a $10. Getting tips has become an art form, with the most clever ice cream scoopers writing witty sayings on the front of their tip jars, like “College Fund,” or “Need money for SAT prep.”
7. You know how to make the perfect swirl
The swirl on top of the cone looks effortless, but it’s taken scoopers many hours of practicing, failing, and shouting at the soft serve machine. At first, you got more ice cream on your hand than in the cone, but over time you’ve learned that it’s all in the wrist and controlling the speed of the soft serve. You are the captain of this ice cream cone. There is a great deal of pride that comes with being able to confidently say you can whip out three large twists in plain cones without even breaking a sweat. Give yourself a pat on the back for this one, scoopers.
8. You can fix the soft serve machine
Keep patting because soft serve machines are like 5-year olds coming off a sugar high. They’re just waiting to throw a temper tantrum, but you’ve dealt with this before, so when the chocolate freezes up or it’s coming out a little too soupy, you know what to do. Whisper sweet nothings to it? Hit it with a hammer? Either option is an acceptable solution. Turn this dial halfway, flip those two switches, add some more mix and wait five minutes. If that doesn’t work, pick up the hammer again.
9. You smile
A lot. Especially to the people buying ice cream and hopefully tipping you. Customer service is basically second nature for a scooper. This is true for any job that deals with people, which is essentially every job. All ice cream scoopers know that being nice earns tips and tips equal happiness. Besides tips, who doesn’t love being nice? Being nice to others is nice! Granted it is hard when some lady comes back demanding a new ice cream because she got the wrong one, even though you swear she said orange sherbet. But what can you do? Smile. Thanks for this piece of advice, Mom.
10. You have tried all of the flavors
More than once. And if you get a new flavor in, you HAVE to try it, regardless of the outcome. Sweet and Salty Pretzel? It’s alright. Green Tea? What was your boss thinking? You almost died trying it. S’mores? Breaking in later tonight to steal the entire tub. Trying flavors is part of your job. How else are you going to describe what Dinosaur Crunch tastes like? “Uh, it’s a blue vanilla ice cream with swirls of fudge and cookie pieces.” Try it before you buy it.
11. You have more than one favorite
Because how could you not when you work at an ice cream shop that has over thirty flavours? Most nights you can be found not-so-sneakily sneaking ice cream home with you. It was a long shift and what better way to unwind than by stuffing your face with delicious Sea Salt Caramel or classic Coffee? And major brownie points if you bring ice cream home to your family. They like that.
Scooper in hand? Check.
Chocolate jimmies in shoes? Check.
Hot fudge on shirt? Check.
Ice cream scoopers don’t care if the hot fudge stains, because it’s the kind of stain they don’t want to wash out.
