The Ice Cream Message

[JaneYoung]

Also, there are times when the folks who run this ice cream store don't have the flavors I like. Can you believe that?!!! Although this really frustrates me, I get over this treachery and I still order something. After all, it is ice cream. I like ice cream.

This is a quote taken from a recent thread here in CD. It was made by Andy Baker.

What does the message in this quote mean to you? It's the end of the school year for a lot of students and a lot of thinking has been going on, taking finals and writing papers. Anyone want to give any thought to ice cream? Andy has a way of simplifying complicated ideas into great visuals and he doesn't do it very often in CD, anymore. This quote can be thought about in a lot of different ways and it could be interesting to explore them.


Jane

[rocknthehawk]

This is great.

How I see it? Personally, I do not like or agree with things going on. But, I can deal with it and move forward because this is robots. I like robots.

You can't please everyone. I could be just as happy at a food truck as a sit down candlelit dinner...because I love food, and eating makes me happy. This can sometimes be very difficult for a collective passionate group. While we can't always get along, we all have a common goal, and can reach that together with some compromise.

[kstl99]

This is a dilemma faced often in life. Do the best you can with the situation you find yourself in. It is a very valuable skill to be able to accept the realistic options you have and go with the one that works the best for you.

However there is another option. Andy could have gone to the next store down the road or waited for his flavor to be restocked. There are times when it is worth not settling for second best. The ability to wait and work for what you really want is a skill that seems to be disappearing of late. The best things tend to be the things that require lots of work.

I guess that life requires a mixture, some things where you take what you can get but also some other projects which are rewarding in the long run.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

What does the message in this quote mean to you?

I think it is an oversimplification, and can be interpreted to mean "if something is good, but you think it could be better, you shouldn't really complain about it because it is still good."

Or maybe...
"If someone else is doing something good, but not doing it in the way you like, it doesn't really matter because it is still good."

Perhaps...
"If people don't like the good thing you're doing, don't worry about it, because it's still good."

I don't really agree with any of these things -- I'm pretty philosophical (especially about "ice cream") and as such I like to discuss improvements. Maybe I was misinterpreting Andy (it wouldn't be the first time) but that's how I took it.

As such, I posted this.

Hi Andy!
I like ice cream too. I also like certain flavors more than others. Sometimes I like one flavor, other times I like other flavors. There are types of ice cream I really don't like (yes, not all ice cream appeals to me).

So the cool thing is, I'm part of this super-special ice cream club. A bunch of me and my ice cream liking friends get together and share our perspectives and opinions on ice cream. The result is, we work together to make BETTER ice cream!

Now, even after our club talks about it, sometimes there are flavors of ice cream I don't like. I don't eat these, and I just let the ice cream maker know I'm disappointed they don't have my flavor of ice cream. Sometimes the ice cream maker takes my feedback, sometimes they don't -- but at least they get to hear how I feel about the ice cream.

It is tough to make good ice cream without feedback from the ice cream community.

Ice cream is an iterative process.

I like talking about ice cream, such that maybe we can all have better ice cream.

-John

[LeelandS]

When I first saw Andy Baker post that in the thread, it really got me thinking. JVN and Paul's subsequent posts kept me thinking. This was my conclusion:

As member of FIRST, as mentors and students and volunteers, alumni, parents and everything in between, we are part of something great. That's our ice cream. FIRST is our ice cream. We (and I hope I'm not speaking for anyone incorrectly) love everything we do here. We know we're causing changes in the world that could save the world from whatever problems that're erupting. We are sparking the next culture change. And I love every moment of it. I love FIRST. Or... I love ice cream! And there are parts of FIRST I can look at and feel an overwhelming sense of pride. Parts that I can think to myself "Wow. I'm really a part of all this. I, one of tens of thousands of kids who do this, am living a dream." Those are the flavors we like!

That being said, there are parts of FIRST that I don't like. I won't get into that, but there are parts of FIRST that we're not all thrilled with. With an organization as big as FIRST, there's not way we can all be happy with every part. Those are the flavors of ice cream we don't like. Now I'm not particularly fond of some of these parts. But I respect that someone out there, who is part of the same global organization as me, enjoys it. Appreciates it. Takes part in it. Other people like different flavors of ice cream.

In the end, I can look at everything like a kid in an ice cream store. I like that flavor, and that flavor, and that flavor. But I don't like that flavor. But you know what? Just because I don't like a few flavors in the ice cream shop doesn't mean I'm going to turn around and find an ice cream shop that ONLY has flavors I like. That's impossible. Never gonna happen. I'm going to stick to the flavors I like, and maybe once in a while I'll try a new one or try a flavor I thought I didn't like, and maybe I'll find a flavor I really like! But I know that there are flavors I like, and I know I'll always be able to turn back to those when I need a pick me up.

In short (and in FIRST terms), I love FIRST. FIRST has been my life for the past 8 years. FIRST and I have had our ups and downs, but I love it dearly. There are parts I like about it, and parts I don't like. And as much as I think about leaving FIRST (which is more than I care to admit), I could never bring myself to leave all the parts of FIRST that I love without a very good reason.

That's my interpretation of things, anyway. I love ice cream. FIRST = ice cream. I love FIRST!

[JaneYoung]

So maybe we are talking about tolerance and support of a variety of flavors and potentially, new flavors or combinations?

Or, if a brand name changes, then we continue to look for our favorite or adapt to the the new changes or.. switch flavors.

Or maybe - we really don't care because, after all, it's ice cream.

Jane

[GaryVoshol]

Kind of like a bumper sticker: The worst day of fishing is still better than the best day in the office.

[JVN]

Originally Posted by GaryVoshol

Kind of like a bumper sticker: The worst day of fishing is still better than the best day in the office.

While generally true... are those the only two choices?

(PS - I don't like fishing, but I do like my office).

[JesseK]

It may not just be about ice cream, but rather about the people and the ice cream shop itself.

Mr. Baker could very easily go to a grocery store and get any of the 100's of flavors in the freezer section. He could probably also go to a competitor of that shop. Mr. Baker didn't because he was either lazy at the time or likes the people in the ice cream shop ... or both.

To me the quote is about how easy it is to spend too much time making decisions about little things that don't really matter.

[Karibou]

The more I think about this, the more ways I find to interpret this. The first thing to come to mind is that not everyone likes the same kind of ice cream that I do, but we all still like ice cream. Just like how not all teams are run the same way, but we still all like robots. What fun would going to the ice cream parlor be if they only had one flavor? If there was only one flavor of ice cream, grocery stores would always be sold out of it, because everyone who likes ice cream would only have that flavor to like. That's no fun either.

Alternatively, if you can't get the flavor that you want, it's a great motivator to try a new one. While I REALLY liked Oreo ice cream as a kid, my grandma only had Butter Pecan at her house, and that's now my favorite. Sometimes being forced outside of your comfort zone forces you to be more open-minded and willing to try new flavors, and that's not always a bad thing.

If I share my ice cream with someone else, it's like sharing an idea with someone. We can have a discussion about what we like and dislike about that flavor, and maybe how we could improve it. We could add toppings. Or possibly share it with another friend, so that more people get the chance to experience that flavor for themselves.

I love ice cream. Both our metaphorical ice cream, and the real stuff.