Everybody Scream Research Paper

The Food that makes Everybody Scream
I have never met a person who didn’t like ice cream. There are some people who can’t eat it or some who are too busy counting calories and suck the sad artificial sweetener out of popsicles instead, but these people do not count. Ice cream is versatile, and therefore, everyone can find a way to enjoy it; whether it be, vanilla or chocolate, cup or cone, or sprinkles or soulless. Although the smooth consistency of ice cream during a humidly hot summer day is irresistible, the best quality of ice cream is how the experience of eating it evolves as people age.
When I was a kid, ice cream meant endless opportunities. The cases holding the ice cream, which were taller than I was, stretched from one end of the
store to the other making it seem like this one shop had every type of ice cream imaginable. I would pace back and forth between the cases, stand on my tiptoes to see inside, and fog up the glass with my hands; picking an ice cream flavor was never an easy decision. I always chose a borderline radioactive colored ice cream that would get on my clothes, face, and even in my hair; but that was part of the fun. The Blue Pop flavor was one even my parents remember; It would stain my skin for hours regardless of how many times they tried to wash it off. It was bright blue tart frozen sugar that would instantly melt on the tongue, and combined with crunchy candy eyeballs or crackling pop rocks, it was enough to send me on a sugar high for the rest of the day. Ice cream can be anything a child can think of: a favorite fruit, candy, or even cartoon character can be made into ice cream.
There was a point in my life where the novelty of cartoon-shaped brightly colored ice cream lost its spark, and I began exploring ice cream flavors, rather than appearance, for the first time.
When it comes to the differences between novelties and ice cream, research from The National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association says that “Ice cream and novelties are the second- and third largest categories in the frozen food department, with $6.3 billion and $4.5 billion in sales, respectively” and this noticeable gap between the sales of novelties verses ice cream demonstrates the broader audience that ice cream attracts (Dudlicek 148). Beginning to enjoy ice cream as food more than a gimmick, I could relate to other’s experience of eating ice cream more
easily.
Exploring ice cream flavors was more than learning the difference between chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry; I learned about the different cultural upbringings of my friends through ice cream.
In elementary and middle school, I rode on a school bus with mostly Hispanic peers for many hours a day; with this experience, I learned a lot about the differences between our cultures whether it be the shows, music, or foods that we enjoyed. Knowing my love for ice cream, one of my friends brought me her family’s guava cheesecake ice cream. She explained that like how my traditional southern family baked pound cakes for people, her family made pints of ice cream in the same fashion. Having never had guava but loving cheesecake, I was optimistic that this odd combination would work. The creaminess of the cheesecake based ice cream contrasting with the grittiness of the graham cracker crumbles made for an interesting texture on the tongue, but it is the swirl of fresh guava preserves that counteracts the slightly savory and tangy aspects of the cream cheese flavor. Ice cream is more than just a dessert; it is an insight into a person’s
culture.
Ice cream taught me more than just about the cultural upbringing of my friends; it helped me get beyond small talk and allowed me to develop lasting relationships in high school, a time where it is much more difficult to make friends than when I was younger. Taking people on ice cream outings is one of the easiest ways to make someone feel comfortable, included, and appreciated. At a Cold Stone, a shop where “ice cream flavors are customized for patrons at the time of order,” there is a mix of nostalgic childhood memories and freedom to create any flavor that allows for people to let down their guard (“Things are Just Better”). One of my fondest high school memories is taking some of the first-year students from the theater company out for ice cream. It was fun to see certain people who were more reserved come out of their shell once they began explaining why their ice cream combination was the best. One of the best qualities about ice cream is how it brings people together.
Coming to college, finding an ice cream place where I could hang with my friends gave me a sense of home. In an article discussing the transition from high school to college, Professor Flemming and his colleagues note how “[t]he town provides an escape from the university environment and all that it entails: roommates, classes, and studies. Therefore, a town or city that provides opportunities such as museums, shopping, sports, concerts, and the like may be better all-around environments for many students” (Flemming, Howard, Perkins, & Pesta). After having lived in the same town all my life, moving to Birmingham for college kept me in a constant state of discomfort since I did not know where anything was. Once I found Edgewood Creamery, an ice cream shop within 5 minutes of my college, I could use an ice cream outing as both a way to feel less homesick and as an opportunity to make friends. Everything seemed to come full circle as I saw the ice cream cases lined up and when I looked inside one of them, I saw a bright blue ice cream flavor that I now know stains my skin. Finding Edgewood Creamery allowed me to have a place of comfort while living away from home.
Even though a national survey says “Americans love ice cream because it's cool and refreshing on a hot day (62%), because it's a treat or reward (60%) or because it cheers us up when we're feeling down (36%),” I think that it is the experience of eating ice cream that makes it a dessert people return to time and time again (National Survey). I have had a lot of positive experiences eating ice cream, whether it was feeling limitless, learning about cultures, developing relationships, or finding comfort in the unknown. The fact that the experience of eating ice cream changes throughout a person’s life is why ice cream is a timeless dessert.