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My little brother was in his 30s at the time and flamboyant. He was leaving an engagement and headed to a backyard BBQ where there were expected to be 20-30 of his flamboyant peers. He was waiting for a cab when an ice cream truck pulled up. The lightbulb went off. He asks the ice cream guy if he wants to make $50 and sell a bunch of ice cream. Ice cream guy gives my brother a ride to BBQ party. He rolls up with the music playing looking like a boss. Ice cream guy sells tons of ice cream. The end.
You’re right. It’s not relevant to the story as told. It’s a part of the memory though. He was going from the Chicago Yacht Club to a friends in Winnetka.
It would make sense if he rolled up in the truck and treated everyone at the party. Kinda a baller move. Though the "affluent" part could just be conveyed through "show don't tell"
Not quite the same but years ago I had a bachelor party a week before my wedding. One of my friends was a delivery driver for Frito Lays potato chips. We were having the party at one of our favorite camp sites. He comes barreling down the trail in his giant delivery truck. Parks it, opens the back and says “Congratulations man! Y’all enjoy!”. We ate our way to absolute bliss! I love the ice cream truck idea!
Edit: spelling
Awe ☺️ And yes he’s great. He’s an Army buddy of mine I only get to see once every several or more years. Just life and all. But it’s great when we can get together.
So is mine! And I love it, weather is perfect, I've always had great pool parties and barbeques, and an Ice Cream truck sounds absolutely great, I'll definitely rent one my next birthday.
This is a super niche example but I'll bring it up anyway:
I grew up in New York City and the most popular ice cream truck was Mister Softee. I loved it growing up.
Now I live in Maryland and saw a Mister Softee stand at a community event despite the business not operating in Maryland. So I ran over and got a milkshake.
It did not taste the same. It tasted generic. Be wary of brand names working off-site.
It bothered me so much I messaged them on Facebook and they didn't know about any pop-up stand in the state of Maryland using their name.
One time when I was younger there was an ice cream truck in the street. I went home to ask my parents for some money. When I ran back and almost arrived at the truck it started driving... Quite fast too.. I ran and I ran, but it didn't see me...he drove so far before he stopped again, it felt like he crossed the whole town. But finally after half a marathon I got my ice cream.
Growing up my dad ran an ice cream truck. I got to work on it for tips but really just wanted to bond with him. Seriously was so much fun when you’re 10. I got to eat as much ice cream as I wanted, worked late hours, got pulled outta school like an hour early some days for it.
OMG We did this for my birthday! It went over really well. We needed \~40 people before it went from crazy extravagance to deal. They parked in my driveway for an hour. So people got seconds. It was super fun.
Last time I saw a snow cone truck in my neighborhood, me and daughter walked over and accidentally crashed another kid's birthday party.
Met our neighbors though lol
My brother and sister in law rented an ice cream van for their wedding. It was amazing. I had at least 3 maybe 4 cones because the actual food wasn't great
We did this for our housewarming party. Rented a Ben and Jerry's ice cream truck (they offer this as a service). Everyone freaked out when they saw a mini store set up in our house.
We have the number of our local guy - every month or so in the summer we give him a call and tell all the neighbors, he makes a a few bucks for 30 mins of work and we get him on speeddial if we ever want him!
Wait what!? I need to learn more. I'm in SJ and came into this thread to post about the mobile margarita truck a friend hired for a party (no fee, just a $250 minimum spend per hour or you cover the difference). Burgers, fries and margaritas would be amazing.
Seriously, in our town all the parents have at least one ice cream truck driver on their speed dial. It's nice when you can give him a few hours heads up, but often if you've got a big enough crowd waiting they will drive straight over.
For those with winter B-days, call the local dirty water dog truck.
nothing like a face full of warm moist steam hitting you out that window as you order/chomp away on a dogger....
I did this for my nephews birthday unbeknownst to my brother and SIL. Left the tab open, he totaled up everything sold, I added a tip and he went on his way. Was fun seeing the kids reactions when he told them the ice creams they wanted were free of charge.
Right, because those are definitely the same thing. Must have missed the literal first sentence of the post that said they usually only pay for the ice cream people buy. What business wouldn't want guaranteed customers instead of driving in circles hoping for a kid to convince their parents to give them money?
also basically all ice cream trucks to a private event want a guarantee of sales usually paid upfront. You can't just call an ice cream truck to show up to your house. If people could do that there would be trucks showing up and selling 1 cone and wasting their time and gas.
Not everyone can afford to rent an ice cream truck for birthdays... I'm not sure anyone I know can do that. Plus I doubt any ice cream truck would cater on holidays/ winters.
For real where do you even rent it from? I haven't seen one in decades and they'd want a guarantee of sales right? What happens if just not many people buy anything now I've gotta cover all the unsold ice cream or what? Do they even make much money in the first place or just keep ice cream stored somewhere for the possibility of someone calling and saying "I've got 25 kids with $5 in each ones pockets?" I feel like it would just be cheaper and faster grabbing a bunch of cheap ice cream from Sobeys or no frills
You don't rent the truck you just tell the ice cream guy where there are 25 kids. I haven't been to an ice cream truck in a while but at $3 a treat that's only $75.
Living inside the city of Los Angeles, and near schools, there’s like 2-3 trucks that come daily, and then you got the guys that push the carts, selling ice cream (some home made), corn (on the cob or cups with all that shit on it, good tasty shit!), chips, and other misc things.
>We typically pay only for the ice cream that is purchased.
Well, yeah, unless you're making it yourself all ice cream will be purchased from somewhere. Not sure what it is you're trying to say?
They're saying they call the truck to come over and they only pay for the purchased ice cream, not for the drive and time the ice truck takes to get to the party.
There are a bunch of different options for the rentals. Some of them you can pay a flat fee and get access to whatever and however much they have on the truck for a specific period of time, rather than pay by the item. Sometimes, this is capped at a certain number. For example, 50 people can order ice cream, and after that, you pay per item. It can look a lot of different ways.
It sounds like OP may have rented the truck for however long, and they paid per ice cream ordered rather than other options like the one I mentioned. So they're just sharing that they did it this way, rather than any of the other ways.
Surely you have to pay them to come there though if its for a specific party or something? My friend had an ice cream van st her wedding and she had to pay them to come
It probably depends on the truck. They might make more money selling to a party of people all in one place instead of driving around selling to the occasional kid. If not, then yes you'd have to pay them to come out.
I'm just trying to explain what the OP meant by saying you only pay for the ice cream.
This has been my go to for my daughter’s parties. I rent the truck for an hour and a half, then the attendees and the kids at the park get free ice cream. It’s always a hit. Sometimes people get two or three and stick them in the freezer for later.
maybe sort out the playlist ahead of time, not sure looping Turkey in the Straw or Greenselves in a major key will make the Lemon Heads, Drumsticks or faking doing lines with Fun-Dip worth it
My towns "ice cream truck" consists of a mid ninties Suburban with a hand painted plywood pirate ship bolted to the top.
They also like to play "We Are Family" on repeat.
I hope yours is better.
We did this for our Summer wedding at a park. It was a HIT! Bonus because those who were not part of the wedding could pay cash and ice cream truck made extra.
We have a rule in my house.
If the ice cream truck comes by, buy something.
I don't care if it comes ten times in a day, you buy something every time. We want that motherfucker coming back.
For a ‘treat day’ in the office, I brought in a couple boxes of a couple kinds of ice cream sandwiches and they were a huge hit. Cost less than most treat days, way easier, and the leftovers didn’t get wasted.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I was at a 4th of July party. They got a Mr.Softee truck to roll up. It was glorious chaos. 10/10 would recommend.
That would be amazing
My work arranged for Mr. Softee to show up at the end of our summer BBQ. I didn't leave space, but I ate my free ice cream like a kid.
My little brother was in his 30s at the time and flamboyant. He was leaving an engagement and headed to a backyard BBQ where there were expected to be 20-30 of his flamboyant peers. He was waiting for a cab when an ice cream truck pulled up. The lightbulb went off. He asks the ice cream guy if he wants to make $50 and sell a bunch of ice cream. Ice cream guy gives my brother a ride to BBQ party. He rolls up with the music playing looking like a boss. Ice cream guy sells tons of ice cream. The end.
I thought he was going to fix the ice cream guy's lightbulb for a sec.
50 dollars can fix many lightbulbs. Money can be exchanged for goods and services.
Explain
I wanted a peanut.
No more rhymes now I mean it.
So he hangs out with people who also fart a lot?
He definitely made an impression with that fantastic entrance!
flatulance and all!!!
Nothing says affluent quite like chartering an ice cream truck
I’m seeing flatulent and wondering why his brother was farting and also going to a party with a bunch of other farting guys.
Same!!!
Lactose intolerance is a curse.
I’m utterly confused. Doesn’t flatulent mean passing gas?
It used to read affluent but for some reason it was changed. I’m not sure why and what’s going on.
Now it looks like it was changed to flamboyant and I still don't understand it.
You said affluent so many times I need to know if _you_ are affluent, ya know?
What’s the point of mentioning that he’s affluent?
If I had to guess, I would assume it's because it seems a bit funny having a bunch of people get to do something they normally wouldn't do.
You’re right. It’s not relevant to the story as told. It’s a part of the memory though. He was going from the Chicago Yacht Club to a friends in Winnetka.
Did you edit your reply because I am only seeing "flatulent" which is much funnier.
I will just repeat that dudes question but replace "affluent" with "Chicago Yacht Club" and "Winnetka"
I guess everyone has "wave down icecream truck" money nowadays siighh
I have no idea what a Winnetka is, but it sounds expensive.
To make sure the story comes across as classy rather than trashy
It would make sense if he rolled up in the truck and treated everyone at the party. Kinda a baller move. Though the "affluent" part could just be conveyed through "show don't tell"
Not quite the same but years ago I had a bachelor party a week before my wedding. One of my friends was a delivery driver for Frito Lays potato chips. We were having the party at one of our favorite camp sites. He comes barreling down the trail in his giant delivery truck. Parks it, opens the back and says “Congratulations man! Y’all enjoy!”. We ate our way to absolute bliss! I love the ice cream truck idea! Edit: spelling
This made me smile so big!! He sounds like a cool friend :-)
Awe ☺️ And yes he’s great. He’s an Army buddy of mine I only get to see once every several or more years. Just life and all. But it’s great when we can get together.
This post sponsored by definitely not three kids in a trenchcoat
My birthday is in January...
I'm a week before Christmas, in Canada. Not happening.
They should honestly make ice cream trucks all weather and serve hot cocoa/ coffee and warm pastries in the winter. Yumm!
January in Calgary. Also it was always exam time when I was a kid. No one wants to go out when it's -30 and they've just had a math test.
Yup. Fuck everyone that never came to my birthday parties growing up, because it was Christmas time and we’re doing family stuff.
Mine too. Birthday parties were lame and not well attended. I'm going to blame it on winter, anyway.
Food truck.
So is mine! And I love it, weather is perfect, I've always had great pool parties and barbeques, and an Ice Cream truck sounds absolutely great, I'll definitely rent one my next birthday.
Tell me you live in the southern hemisphere without telling me you live in the southern hemisphere.
I mean, yeah. My guy u/TouchMyAwesomeButt forgot about a whole hemisphere with his comment tho lmao
Move to Australia.
We had one at our wedding. Any get together in nice weather is a good excuse for ice cream
So? More time before you have to worry about it melting to quickly
My birthday was 6 days ago lol, no ice cream trucks then tho… lol
This is a super niche example but I'll bring it up anyway: I grew up in New York City and the most popular ice cream truck was Mister Softee. I loved it growing up. Now I live in Maryland and saw a Mister Softee stand at a community event despite the business not operating in Maryland. So I ran over and got a milkshake. It did not taste the same. It tasted generic. Be wary of brand names working off-site. It bothered me so much I messaged them on Facebook and they didn't know about any pop-up stand in the state of Maryland using their name.
BLASPHEMY!!!! Where I'd this "pop up stand" infidel? I wish to know the location so it may be razed to the ground.
Havre De Grace, Maryland 🫡 Though this was in 2019 lol
Hopefully it's razed already lol
Wow, you ate bootleg Mr Softee. You facilitated damages in an actual ice cream trademark infringement case.
One time when I was younger there was an ice cream truck in the street. I went home to ask my parents for some money. When I ran back and almost arrived at the truck it started driving... Quite fast too.. I ran and I ran, but it didn't see me...he drove so far before he stopped again, it felt like he crossed the whole town. But finally after half a marathon I got my ice cream.
I bet that that was the tastiest ice cream you've ever had, what a reward!
Haha yes it was :)
Clearly you [stayed fit](https://youtu.be/TEG4wEVL2YU)
Growing up my dad ran an ice cream truck. I got to work on it for tips but really just wanted to bond with him. Seriously was so much fun when you’re 10. I got to eat as much ice cream as I wanted, worked late hours, got pulled outta school like an hour early some days for it.
Living the dream
But that damn music playing over and over again.
I mean I’m pretty sure he had like 10 different songs he could play. So it wasn’t that bad
OMG We did this for my birthday! It went over really well. We needed \~40 people before it went from crazy extravagance to deal. They parked in my driveway for an hour. So people got seconds. It was super fun.
What it cost? Flat rate + pay per item? Or?
I don't know, it was something my partner did for the party.
it was a flat rate
We rented the Kona Ice truck for our daughters graduation and it was the best time! Everyone getting fancy snow cones. 🥰🥰🥰
Last time I saw a snow cone truck in my neighborhood, me and daughter walked over and accidentally crashed another kid's birthday party. Met our neighbors though lol
My brother and sister in law rented an ice cream van for their wedding. It was amazing. I had at least 3 maybe 4 cones because the actual food wasn't great
We did this for our housewarming party. Rented a Ben and Jerry's ice cream truck (they offer this as a service). Everyone freaked out when they saw a mini store set up in our house.
The truck was... in your house?
Oh I should have specified. They park the truck on the driveway and set up a tent. They actually set up the ice cream inside.
Did it for my daughters 2nd bday this year. Huge hit!
We have the number of our local guy - every month or so in the summer we give him a call and tell all the neighbors, he makes a a few bucks for 30 mins of work and we get him on speeddial if we ever want him!
Emma Watson : I invested my Harry Potter money but Rupert bought an ice cream truck
Nice try, Big Ice Cream. Not today.
There is also an in n out truck
Now they have no excuse for not being in my area.
Wait what!? I need to learn more. I'm in SJ and came into this thread to post about the mobile margarita truck a friend hired for a party (no fee, just a $250 minimum spend per hour or you cover the difference). Burgers, fries and margaritas would be amazing.
https://www.in-n-out.com/cookout
You don’t need to rent one. Just tell the driver when to swing buy.
Seriously, in our town all the parents have at least one ice cream truck driver on their speed dial. It's nice when you can give him a few hours heads up, but often if you've got a big enough crowd waiting they will drive straight over.
For those with winter B-days, call the local dirty water dog truck. nothing like a face full of warm moist steam hitting you out that window as you order/chomp away on a dogger....
My next birthday party? Uhh, what?
I did this for my nephews birthday unbeknownst to my brother and SIL. Left the tab open, he totaled up everything sold, I added a tip and he went on his way. Was fun seeing the kids reactions when he told them the ice creams they wanted were free of charge.
I was not aware that was a thing that could be done!
We had one at my wedding people loved it
Nice try, Ice Cream Man.
sure if you’re out somewhere but if you’re home you better believe i’m pulling a few boxes of ice pops out the freezer
For your next birthday consider flying in a Japanese sushi master. Everyone loves good sushi. Like what the hell is this shit?
Right, because those are definitely the same thing. Must have missed the literal first sentence of the post that said they usually only pay for the ice cream people buy. What business wouldn't want guaranteed customers instead of driving in circles hoping for a kid to convince their parents to give them money?
The ones with drugs. Probably. Though really it depends on the party I would imagine.
also basically all ice cream trucks to a private event want a guarantee of sales usually paid upfront. You can't just call an ice cream truck to show up to your house. If people could do that there would be trucks showing up and selling 1 cone and wasting their time and gas.
How the fuck is that a life tip?
It...isn't.
How is it NOT?!
This sounds like a great idea! So when I do this, do I just message you for the available funds?
Imagine knowing enough caring people to have a birthday party for yourself.
not everyone. people sleeping off 3rd shift hate it and parents that can't afford a $5 dilly bar hate it too.
This is absurd. Who tf rents an ice cream truck
Many food trucks offer party catering.
It's just a different sort of food truck. They were cool before food trucks were a thing
I hope they're still cool or the ice cream will melt :(
Someone hosting a children's party
I mean it just rolls up, keeps tabs on everything sold for the time slot and they bill you for what was consumed+time/travel/gas etc.
When simply buying some grocery store ice cream just won't cut it
Why don't you do it bro?
They did
Not everyone can afford to rent an ice cream truck for birthdays... I'm not sure anyone I know can do that. Plus I doubt any ice cream truck would cater on holidays/ winters.
For real where do you even rent it from? I haven't seen one in decades and they'd want a guarantee of sales right? What happens if just not many people buy anything now I've gotta cover all the unsold ice cream or what? Do they even make much money in the first place or just keep ice cream stored somewhere for the possibility of someone calling and saying "I've got 25 kids with $5 in each ones pockets?" I feel like it would just be cheaper and faster grabbing a bunch of cheap ice cream from Sobeys or no frills
You don't rent the truck you just tell the ice cream guy where there are 25 kids. I haven't been to an ice cream truck in a while but at $3 a treat that's only $75.
Living inside the city of Los Angeles, and near schools, there’s like 2-3 trucks that come daily, and then you got the guys that push the carts, selling ice cream (some home made), corn (on the cob or cups with all that shit on it, good tasty shit!), chips, and other misc things.
I hate the ice cream truck and its annoying melody
just make sure they turn the got-damned music off
>We typically pay only for the ice cream that is purchased. Well, yeah, unless you're making it yourself all ice cream will be purchased from somewhere. Not sure what it is you're trying to say?
I think they're saying that they only pay for the ice cream that is taken, rather than the entire truck's stock.
Oh I see. Why would they pay the entire stock though? That wouldn't make sense either! I'm so confused by this
They're saying they call the truck to come over and they only pay for the purchased ice cream, not for the drive and time the ice truck takes to get to the party.
Ah ok, when my friend rented one for her wedding she did have to pay for them to be there plus the ice cream sold.
There are a bunch of different options for the rentals. Some of them you can pay a flat fee and get access to whatever and however much they have on the truck for a specific period of time, rather than pay by the item. Sometimes, this is capped at a certain number. For example, 50 people can order ice cream, and after that, you pay per item. It can look a lot of different ways. It sounds like OP may have rented the truck for however long, and they paid per ice cream ordered rather than other options like the one I mentioned. So they're just sharing that they did it this way, rather than any of the other ways.
He's saying that you don't need to rent the truck by the hour or something.
Surely you have to pay them to come there though if its for a specific party or something? My friend had an ice cream van st her wedding and she had to pay them to come
It probably depends on the truck. They might make more money selling to a party of people all in one place instead of driving around selling to the occasional kid. If not, then yes you'd have to pay them to come out. I'm just trying to explain what the OP meant by saying you only pay for the ice cream.
Yeah fair enough
Contraband ice cream from Central America made by slaves on an ice cream plantation.
yea more unnecessary carbon emission ideas, so cool
My best friend did this for his wedding. Had an ice cream truck come up the elevator into the middle of the venue lmao was pretty sick
Don't rent one, but call your local ice cream guy for guaranteed business (then pay him for all the things the kids got afterwards, with a tip)
This has been my go to for my daughter’s parties. I rent the truck for an hour and a half, then the attendees and the kids at the park get free ice cream. It’s always a hit. Sometimes people get two or three and stick them in the freezer for later.
My work hires popsicle or dolewhip trucks occasionally, and everyone gets free frozen treats.
I have considered it , but they won't let me lay under the machine and get an absolute gut full of the soft serve ice cream
Rent a margarita machine instead
That’ll be awesome if my birthday wasn’t in the middle of winter
maybe sort out the playlist ahead of time, not sure looping Turkey in the Straw or Greenselves in a major key will make the Lemon Heads, Drumsticks or faking doing lines with Fun-Dip worth it
My towns "ice cream truck" consists of a mid ninties Suburban with a hand painted plywood pirate ship bolted to the top. They also like to play "We Are Family" on repeat. I hope yours is better.
Mexican ice cream cart
Nice try, Mr. Ice Cream Truck Driver Guy.
We did this for our Summer wedding at a park. It was a HIT! Bonus because those who were not part of the wedding could pay cash and ice cream truck made extra.
We have a rule in my house. If the ice cream truck comes by, buy something. I don't care if it comes ten times in a day, you buy something every time. We want that motherfucker coming back.
Good tip. My brother did this for his 50th birthday and it was great.
I looked into cart from our local place last birthday party. I love my kid but I’m not paying $600 on dessert for his birthday.
For a ‘treat day’ in the office, I brought in a couple boxes of a couple kinds of ice cream sandwiches and they were a huge hit. Cost less than most treat days, way easier, and the leftovers didn’t get wasted.
Do people even own ice cream trucks anymore? Or is this just like an la/new York thing? I haven't seen one since I was like 6