EVENING

It isn't the most glamorous work, but working in an ice cream shop has its charms.

You find out soon that certain demographics have certain flavors of choice. Little kids love plain old chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, for instance.

And, as it happens, old people love butter pecan.

One night I was smiling to myself as I served up an older woman some butter pecan in a standard cone, when she paused, thought to herself, and said "I need rainbow sprinkles."

For some reason, it got me thinking. This older woman was once a child (obviously, right? I knew that already) - but what's more, she WAS a child, just older. We're all the same people as the infants we once were. I suppose it's hard to articulate. But that's the point. We're better at containing ourselves now, and we look bigger.

That night I felt especially connected to every person I served ice cream to, and it was all because of a few sprinkles. Life is weird in that way.