In such a hot day, business must be up for the ice cream truck. That’s what I thought when the ice cream truck came circling our neighborhood. Then again, I thought in such a hot day, this person, who could have relaxed at home with a cold beer in hand, has to come out to work until sundown at almost 9PM. This is probably his second job, right? I can just imagine he has a regular 8 hour job somewhere, after which he would drive his truck around, sacrificing all his spare time.
An ancient poem about an old man selling charcoal on a very cold day talks about the peril of cold weather on the old man’s body, his wish to sell more charcoal fueling his desire to see a cold day regardless of his own comfort.
“You can’t compare the ice cream truck with the old charcoal guy.” My friend said. “The only similarity is the bad weather, which can help them sell product. That’s the only similarity. Nothing more.” The modern ice cream truck is a business entrepreneurship. If there’s any physical hardship involved, he overcomes it with passion and dream; financial difficulties, he does it with a mortgage; governmental or township trouble, he exercises his voting rights; bad weather, he conquers it with modern air conditioning.
“The ill fates suffered by the old charcoal guy don’t exist any more in today’s small businesses.” My friend said. I have to agree with her since I have nothing to retort.
Haoyan Do 