What nobody tells you about working at an ice cream shop

For most, working at an ice cream shop during the summer seems like winning the lottery of high-school jobs. Regular visits from friends? Check. Easy hours? Check. And, free ice cream? Check. Yet, as someone who worked at an ice cream shop, in NJ, year round for four years, I can guarantee you it’s not always as glamorous as it seems. There’s much more you’ll learn from being behind the counter:

It’s messy

You know that awful feeling you get when your ice cream drips onto your hand? It becomes all sticky and impossible to remove with just a napkin? Imagine that feeling all the way up your arms, down your legs, and often, by some miracle, in your hair. Those free ice creams I’m allowed to take after my shift quickly became unpalatable.

It’s hot

What most customers fail to realize is that, while I may be serving the ice cream, I’m as equally as hot as you in the summer (especially when our air conditioning doesn’t work). Serving you ice cream and watching you relish in its cold relief from the heat is nothing short of torture.

Pandora repeats its songs (and not the good ones)

If sweating your face off in the heat of summer, covered in ice cream wasn’t enough, nothing puts the cherry on top quite like listening to Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” at least four times during one shift. (Not to mention how many times you’ll have to listen to six year olds screeching the Frozen soundtrack).

Our job isn’t always smiles and rainbow sprinkles

I once had a man come into the shop on a blistering hot day, order his ice cream, wait to start eating it, and then complain to me that it had melted and demand a new cone. I believe his words were “You should’ve warned me that the ice cream was going to be soft!” Of course, I grinned and bared it, politely getting him a new cone. But it amazed and annoyed me that he clearly knew enough about ice cream to order it, but apparently was oblivious as to how it worked in summer.

Milkshakes are the drink of the devil

There is a special form of stress that arises when you have a line of customers out the door and someone orders a milkshake. Milkshakes are long and arduous tasks in the world of ice cream concoctions. The perfect milkshake requires a careful measurement of the ice cream-to-milk ratio and constant monitoring of consistency. And, all too often, milkshakes like to spill over the edge of the maker, causing milk to go flying.

But it’s still the best job around

Working at the shop taught me how to find happiness in the little things. I watched children (literally) jump for joy at the sight of their ice cream on the counter, and learned that, no matter how bad of a day I have, a little ice cream never hurt anybody.