Cold Stone Lessons

Yesterday, when I was at Coldstone Creamery with Eryn, a kid and his mother came in to get some ice cream. She asked what he wanted, and he immediately stated that he wanted a particular kind of ice cream, and mixed into it he wanted a.) Kit Kat pieces, b.) Snicker pieces, c.) (Oreo) Cookie pieces, d.) fudge, e.) M&Ms, and fghi.) at least the next four things in a row in the glass jars full of goodies. His mother admonished "two only", to which he replied "dang it," and immediately began trying to start a bargain while simultaneously hemming and hawing, no doubt to punish her for her miserliness. I remember being a kid with big dreams of piles of candy, but I was always a realist. I would have never asked for all those things and honestly thought there was any chance of my parents caving (at least not that I remember, that was more my brother's style). I might have asked for a particular ice cream mix on the predefined list of favorites, thinking that it might slip by as one item instead of three or four or, as was the case with comic books and smaller treats, nickled and dimed my parents to death daily instead, but that would have been the limit of my adventurous spirit. I'm now forced to wonder how this difference between me and this child affected the type of adult I became. If I had been this type of child, would I now be (more) obnoxious and pushy and/or ruthless and wealthy? Would I be someone who was constantly cowed by their wife and/or mother? Would I be an aggressive, self-driven individual? Would I simply be a hoarder of chocolates? Would I have voted Republican, having developed a sick, subconscious correlation between my mother, liberals, taxes, candy and my lack of it?

When Eryn asked for M&Ms, I made sure she got them.