Spring has arrived, sort of. I love seeing the flowers and new leaf buds on all the trees. It's one of the few things I miss about driving into an office for work. . . I miss seeing the trees develop leaves. They start out as a vibrant green full of shades of yellow and as the season progresses they darken to almost emerald. I love the brand new color of the spring leaves. I'm noticing most days are breezy and sunny with temps in the mid 50s which unfortunately is just a smidge too cold for nightly walks. We've gone out less than a handful of times so far but soon, very soon we'll be out every night enjoying the neighborhoods, monitoring house sales, saying hello to neighbors we haven't seen since fall.
During one of our walks we opted for ice cream as if it were mid-summer. We have 3 places that sell ice cream in a reasonable walking distance. Two are right across the street from each other however, I'm boycotting one (UDF) and the other is fine but only offers soft-serve chocolate & vanilla. We wanted more options so we strolled past those to the third location, Ollie's. It has apparently been in town for about 4 years but we only discovered it last summer. It offers flavors that are neither typical nor unique . . . as in it's no Baskin Robbins with the typical array of options but it's no Jeni's either. It falls in-between with flavors like Cranberry Gelato and Chai. With such intriguing flavors one is not certain what the product tastes like. I mean for every Starbucks I hit I can get a Chai that tastes a little different so how do I know what their frozen version will taste like? Unfortunately, there is no option to try their ice cream.
Last year we arrived to see a tiny store covered in signs . . . no strollers, no samples, extra spoons 5 cents, etc. This year there were no signs so I thought perhaps customer service was making a comeback. Nope. I was unable to get a sample of the Cranberry Gelato (or anything else). Hesitantly I ordered it anyway. And I wondered - what will I do if I dislike this? Isn't it worth a tiny sample to ensure I am happy? Otherwise I will have to hand them back the entire cone if I dislike it and that's a huge waste. I also suspect that wouldn't go over well. Sigh. So now after battling all last summer with ourselves over whether or not to patronize this local, non-chain, mom and pop ice cream shop we have had to decide not to return. It's not like they woo us with friendliness to compensate for the no samples. They are generally just not very friendly. They don't even offer to describe their flavors! I'm so annoyed. We visited well over a week ago and I'm still annoyed enough to rant here.
I think customer service has been disappearing everywhere, but with this economy I expect it to make a comeback. By expect it to make a comeback, I mean if a place doesn't offer me good customer service I will take my coveted spending elsewhere.
I'll be sure not to rant in the next blog entry! :)
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