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While aggravated Brooklyn residents near McCarren Park have launched an organized campaign against the insipid jingles incessantly blaring from parked ice cream trucks, parents in other parts of the borough are taking aim at Mister Softee not for how he sounds but for what he sells to their children. Well, two parents anyway; a Bensonhurst mom tells the Daily News she takes her 7-year-old daugher to Seth Low Park for exercise, but an ice cream truck parked there is tearing her family apart: "I’ve had fights with my daughter in the past about it. You kind of feel like it’s pushed on you. It’s one thing if they’re just in the neighborhood, but to be here by contract [with the city], they might as well be selling drugs." (They've been known to do that too!)
And a second mom in Carroll Gardens tells the News that a truck regularly parked between PS 58 and the playground is a constant source of tension: "You’re a trapped audience. It’s hard to say no to your kids." That particular Mister Softee operator leases the prime popsicle-pushing spot from the Parks Department for $6,500 a year. Assemblyman Felix Ortiz—who once proposed school report cards grading children by weight—thinks that should change; he says the Parks Department shouldn't be in the business of profiting from these sugar peddlers: "If they are not providing different choices and alternatives for our kids, then they do not belong there [outside parks and schools]."
One truck driver who makes them scream for ice cream near the PS 52 playground in Sheepshead Bay says he's not holding a gun to customers' heads and forcing soft serve down their throats: "We're not pushing anybody to eat ice cream. As a parent, you have to know how to say no." And the manager of the Mister Softee depot in Brooklyn insists that all his trucks now display the calorie counts for each item. It's been ages since we've purchased a frozen dessert product from Mister Softee; has anyone noticed the calorie info on their trucks?
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>> "You’re a trapped audience. It’s hard to say no to your kids." >>
She should take lessons from my mom.
or mine
i tried. she just kept saying "yes, yes!" and "more more!"
man, i'm not looking forward to the coming of age of this fat, pushy generation wage-slaves.
thanks, lazy parenting!
"it's hard to say no to your kids"
and that my friends is what results in spoiled brats.
"We're not pushing anybody to eat ice cream. As a parent, you have to know how to say no."
DUH.
It's not the ice cream that makes the kids fat. It's the McDonalds.
I would think being teased as the Fat kid would be reason enough for a parent to say no to ice cream.
it's easy to pack on the pounds but much harder to shed them. from personal experience, though one meal a day helps.
I saw a truck just outside Prospect Park yesterday, and it had the calorie counts right beside the menu.
It must be so hard being a parent, what with all that parenting you have to do.
I agree that parents should be able to tell their kids "no ice cream today" but I have to say that the Mister Softee truck pictured is never (as far I know) there on the weekends—just school afternoons.
well, duh! there's no kids at school on the weekends...
i mean, capitalism and all that.
Mister Softee has the right to go whereever and whenever there's the potential for the most sales, ie during school days. If lazy parents cave in to their kids all the time that's not Softee's fault.
Agreed—parents should definitely be able to say no to their kids. But I also think Mister Softee knows kids today can totally browbeat their parents into doing what they want.
Ha, then the title should go to the parents:
Mr. & Mrs. Softee
Good one!
Of course he does, that's why he's a good businessman. Again the point is it's NOT his responsibility to control what the kids eat, but their parents.
Gen-Xer parents are such goddamn pussies.
Wow. This article pretty much sums up modern parenting, doesn't it?
Kid: I want ice cream!
Parent: Not right now.
Kid: ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!
Parent: Oh okay, just as long as you don't get mad at me.
Seriously. Many people should just not be allowed to have children. If you don't have the stones to tell your kid NO ICE CREAM TODAY YOU LITTLE FUCKER, then you don't have any business having kids. If you can't say no on ice cream, what are you going to say when it's actually something important?
It's going to suck so bad when I start popping them out and I have to deal with all these little brats who get everything they want from their parents. I do appreciate Softee taking advantage of today's bad parents, though. Good business move on their part.
One more thing for stupid parents to complain about.
I mean COME ON
http://atthebox.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/fat-kid.jpg
thanks. that's the best comment you've ever made on this blog. seriously. i love that photo, especially in the high res like that.
thanks
thanks. that's the best comment you've ever made on this blog. seriously. i love that photo, especially in the high res like that.
As much as I love that photo, that's actually not a fat American kid (as most people assume). I can't find a link to substantiate it immediately, but that kid's a junior sumo wrestler from Thailand. Look at the sign in the top left corner in the background -- you can see the lettering is different.
Still a fat kid, though, and still fucking hilarious.
fat kids, not love and gold, are the universal language
fat kids, not love and gold, are the universal language
if these parents are going to argue that "You kind of feel like it’s pushed on you", how is she going to deal with her kid when they walk by McDonalds, a pizza joint, or any other food place that might be seen as unhealthy??
I like that there is a Mister Softee by the school yard when I pick up my kids! On a hot day why not have a cone? Most parents in Manhattan send their nannies or babysitters to pick up their kids. As they have little or no interest in the benefit of the child they are paid to watch, they ply them with all sorts of sweets to keep them happy. When the parent takes the kid to the dentist, all hell breaks loose.
i pick my kid up, she has an ice cream cone, runs around the park for a couple a hours fueled by ice cream, then we head home more or less with smiles on our faces. two bucks.
dude in the truck is a total fuckin carny, though.
like he has small hands, and smells like cabbage?
As a parent I can tell you that sometimes you just have to endure your kid crying for something. The key is to have some kind of creative way to make them stop.
As a former Good Humor man I can tell you that the ice cream man doesn't give a shit about your problems.
HERE IS A THOUGHT: PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN IF GOD FORBID, THEY SHOULD ASK YOU FOR ... ICE CREAM
WHAT THE F--K IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLD ?!
As the parent of four children and the VP of Mister Softee I can appreciate both sides. I agree with the majority of sentiment regarding the parenting issue. The Mister Softee truck is a convenient target as there are temptations at every turn (Play Station for example) yet little public complaining. The truck owners have a tough job - most work 12 hour days and many work seven days a week for the season. The good news is that a small cone (avg. 4oz.) has only 170 calories and the primary ingredients are fresh cream and condensed skim milk.
In NYC Mister Softee provides employment for about 400 men and women. Most of these people are NYC residents, many are married with children and have a stake in the City lkie most of you. We also contribute in a broader economic sense as our ice cream comes from NY City's only dairy, gas from NYC stations and various supplies from other local vendors. We have been doing business in NYC for over 50 years and appreciate your patronage.
Kind regards,
Jim Conway
Mister Softee Inc.
I might be more moved by that if the local Mister Softee guy on my former Good Humor route hadn't dumped melted soft ice cream dreck on my truck.
Is your ice cream gluten-free? Just curious.
Charge a fat tax and fine them with noise disturbance, that should remedy all issues, well maybe they should peddle meth to calm down all the wacko yuppies complaining about this stuff.
my mom always said no b/c i was a husky