Southerners rejoiced this past week as Blue Bell ice cream returned to the freezer aisle after a five-month hiatus. Blue Bell voluntarily pulled their products after causing a multi-state outbreak of listeria which resulted in the deaths of three people. Disregarding these events, people have welcomed Blue Bell back into their grocery stores and hearts after an entire summer of complaining on social media about the lack of Blue Bell ice cream for their peach cobbler and root beer floats. The elderly and middle aged seemed to take the hiatus especially hard, taking to Facebook to post memes and voice their fears about the modern world.

Ya know who didn't survive? THREE PEOPLE WHO DIED AFTER INGESTING POISONOUS ICE CREAM! I feel as if we, as a society, are being a bit cavalier about this incident. There's a difference between "forgive and forget" and "allow a company to remain blameless for the deaths of three people". We never forget about a celebrity sex tape or any of the bullying we had to endure in middle school, but take away a specific brand of ice cream due to an outbreak of a deadly illness and we will literally swear off all other brands of ice cream and mope around until our favorite brand is back. It's as if Ben and Jerry's (which has never killed anyone, to my knowledge) doesn't even exist. It's like we can't just go out to Marble Slab (which, to my knowledge, has never killed anyone) and get a waffle cone full of Double Chocolatey Dream Cake Supreme with mini M&M's and whipped cream. We have other delicious options. There's no reason to run blindly back to Blue Bell after they poisoned ten people in four different states. As much as I hate to be this person, this is America, and we have the right to choose what ice cream we eat. No one should feel tied to Blue Bell by some sense of Southern culture. I would rather just eat Cherry Garcia and feel confident that I will survive, than eat Blue Bell and just cross my fingers and hope nothing awful happens to me.