Ice cream truck/van

[unbelman.livejournal.com]

Has anyone else noticed an odd Ice Cream Truck/Van?

I've been hearing it play Send in The Clowns SO LOUDLY and it belches out a lot of exhaust. When I heard it , I went looking for what the source of the noise was. I smelled it before I saw it.

And it looks so beat up. Lots of old and peeling off stickers on the side. I didn't get a look at the passengers side where I assume the bigger window is to sell the product. When I saw it, there was a woman driver and that somehow relieved me. Maybe it's sexist of me, but when I saw the beat up van and all selling ice cream, I was a little sketched out. But a woman at the wheel made me feel just slightly less sketchy about it.

Are there permits needed for these types of things?

Comments

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

i saw one yesterday right by store 24 in the square, but i didn't really pay attention to what it looked like or who was in it.

i'm not sure what "send in the clowns" sounds like, but the truck i saw didn't play the regular kind of ice cream truck song i'm used to.

[shinxy.livejournal.com]

That ice cream truck has been prowling around Tufts campus. There's definitely something off about it. At first I was thinking to myself, "sweet, ice cream!" but when I actually approached I noticed the beaten up state of the truck, and the woman behind the wheel seemed odd and discheveled, really confused. I asked her about ice cream and there actually didn't seem to be any ice cream to be sold, just some slushes, which were melty. She seemed totally disoriented. I kind of extracted myself from the situation by saying I''d spoil my appetite and walking over to the campus center, but I had a bad feeling about it afterwards.

I wouldn't be surprised if the woman was mentally ill, disabled, or on drugs. That's not a judgement, I actually work with all three populations professionally, and this woman really reminded me of the people I work with.

From what I understand, ice cream truck drivers are freelancers who rent the trucks out for the season and buy ice cream independently. I'm not sure if there's any licensing that happens, but I somewhat doubt it.

[ron_newman]

plumtreeblossom also noticed the ice cream truck.

[shinxy.livejournal.com]

Another thing that seemed odd to me was that the serving window is covered in a rusty cage and held shut with a padlock, and the woman doesn't actually serve out of the serving window.

[ron_newman]

I suppose one could call the health department, but i wouldn't do that to someone unless I seriously suspected that her refrigerators or freezers were not working properly.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

hmm...we have an ice-cream truck in our area (winter hill) but it plays "The Entertainer" and usually is driven by a youngish hispanic guy, so probably not the same one. Yours sounds creepy. I'd definitely avoid.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

I saw this one yesterday, in two different places. In both spots I saw people buying some sort of popsicles, so it was either a different truck than the one shinxy mentions above or she's re-stocked.

It was kind of funny the first time I saw it - outside Sacco's while I was on my way into the post office on Day St. The woman behind the counter was saying to everyone, "Do you hear that? Is that music? Where's it coming from?" She seemed really relieved when I said it was from the ice cream truck outside; apparently no one else admitted to hearing it and she thought she was losing her mind.

[unsi-sempai.livejournal.com]

Heh, I remember that guy from when I lived on Winter Hill. As late as 11 P.M., I would hear "The Entertainer" tinkling by. It was a little weird.

[evilbunnymayhem.livejournal.com]

When I went to massart there was a truck almost identical to your description that prowled the streets of mission hill.... at 11pm... at night.... in winter.
It was humerously dubbed the "crack truck" as what on EARTH could they be selling OTHER than drugs at the dead of night in winter? When the area was renovated and built up the truck vanished.
I'd suggest the next time you see it calling the police and allerting them to it's oddity- just so it's on record. Could be and prolly is nothing- but it IS weird... who knows what they're up to or "selling".

[ron_newman]

An ice cream truck on my street? I've never ever seen one here.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

Yep, yesterday (Friday) around 4 or 4:30!

[tut21.livejournal.com]

So did RealFake (http://realfake.org/blog/2007/05/03/isnt-it-rich/).

[chivesthebutler.livejournal.com]

yes, oh my god. i heard the fucking tinkling noise outside my dorm for probably an hour while i was asleep (granted, this was the afternoon) a few days ago--i want to kill her!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

That sounds like the beginning of a Stephen King novel.

[jwinter.livejournal.com]

I saw the same truck you did and I think you're overreacting. Most ice cream trucks look a little beat up. It's the result of sitting outside all winter, and being driven for hours and hours straight all summer. The mobile ice cream industry isn't the most lucrative, so there's not much revenue to sink into upkeep of the truck. Also, all of the ice cream treats they sell are pre-packaged, so as long as they're kept cold, the cleanliness of the truck is irrelevant healthwise.

The kids I saw running to buy ice cream seemed awfully happy; I'd hate to disappoint them because the truck they were running to wasn't up to your standards.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I have no sympathy for these dubious business persons. This is noise and smoke pollution at its worst. Having to listen to that crap all afternoon is ridiculous. Do not give them business. Call the authorities. Imagine hanging out in the Square, chillin, and having to listen to that racket, smell and breathe in the stinky exhaust and see the rusting pile of junk. I for one will be calling the cops.

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

I predict that you will receive the sort of mocking only an underpaid, overworked cop who is talking to someone about a fucking ice cream truck, of all things, can deliver.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

How have I never seen that one? Does he go down Broadway?

[gildersleeve.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it is just me, but that noise pollution has got to be better than that one guy who is always out in the plaza playing the same eight mediocre folk/rock cover songs on his guitar, over and over, on what seems like every sunny day. Just saying...

[ron_newman]

Are you sure your login name isn't self_righteousness_1 ?

I enjoy seeing and hearing ice cream trucks. They remind me of my childhood.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

ZING!

Send In The Clowns

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

journeystar said she bought a Chipwich from this truck, so it does really have ice cream. The song is a surreal choice though, I must say. Send In The Clowns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_in_the_Clowns) is "a slow, mournful ballad, in which the character Desiree reflects on the ironies and disappointments in her life."

Wiki teaches us:

The title refers to a phrase reputedly used in a circus when an unforeseen disaster had occurred, with the clowns being sent in to distract the audience from the problem. Alternatively, the title could refer to the practice in vaudeville theatre of sending the clowns on to the stage to distract the audience after a particularly bad act, or to the practice of sending in clowns at a rodeo in order to divert danger from a fallen rodeo cowboy.

On an Ice cream truck.

Now that I think about it, it's really funny.

Re: Send In The Clowns

[by-lime.livejournal.com]

I know it's weird, but I actually like the Barbra Streisand cut of this song. Clearly, they weren't playing that version.

I saw the truck turning onto College around 4 yesterday and got a little creeped out both by the ice cream truck and the thought of clowns--too many 80's horror flics. I wasn't close enough to see the driver, but I was thinking that ice cream truck drivers really oughta think about changing their image if they are really *only* all about selling ice cream, that is.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

I don't get it Ron, memories from childhood are one thing. A smoke belching gas-wasting, idling rust bucket selling melty sloopys and no ice cream with a confused woman facing out of the wrong side of the truck does not bring me back to mine! So we got two options: this truck chugging away in the Square belching diesel smoke reminding you of your youth or not being there and being able to hear birdsong and the joyful yelps of children and someone playing a guitar without hearing that freakin send in the clowns blasting out of a squawker. Sometimes Ron, you just gotta let it go man!

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Dude, I was kiddin about the cops. Jeez!

[ron_newman]

If she's violating emissions rules or health rules, then report her. But it sounded to me like you hated the whole idea of ice cream trucks.

(Are she and her truck hanging out in the Square for long periods of time, or just passing through occasionally?)

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Well, I give this person low marks because it looks like this account was created solely to post anonymously to davis_square. Looks far too much like cleanup_davissq.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I would imagine so, but I can't say for sure.

[ddrbigc.livejournal.com]

That song is so depressing....