#92- Fatherly Advice

I know, I know, I missed Father's Day, by a long shot, but I'm going to try to make up for it by giving homage to what just might be one of the best things about fathers worldwide; fatherly advice.

It seems to me that fathers have it hardwired into their brain to impart the cumulative wisdom of their years into bite-sized nuggets of information for their offspring. As a former student journalist it is astounding to me how concisely dads can put huge metaphysical queries into one or two sentences or a witty phrase.


On the eve of my departure to Kenya, almost four years ago, my dad and I were talking, probably about the Blue Jays or something, when he suddenly gave me some of that fatherly advice. He told me that when I faced adversity on my trip, when I had a bad day or felt like I couldn't or didn't want to continue, I should remember one thing; why I was there in the first place.


I nodded and thanked him, but I gave the advice a mental brush off, stuffing it in the back of my brain. Why would I need that, I thought, I'm on a once in a lifetime trip with friends, doing something good. I won't face any doubt or hurdles, emotional, mental or physical.

Of course I was wrong, as arrogant teenagers often are, and mustered up that sage wisdom of my father's more than once along my journey in Kenya, and was 1000 times better off for it.


And now I keep that advice close at hand in whatever I do. Whenever I start to grumble and get discouraged at the ice cream store where I work, I try to remember why I am there. I am there to serve ice cream, I am there to make people smile, help a family connect, a child find the extraordinary in the ordinary and give a sweet end to a sometimes bitter day. And when I remember this I realize the smiles and laughter much more and my tired legs and negative thoughts much less.


So I am grateful for fatherly advice. I am grateful that wisdom, kindness and knowledge can be passed from generation to generation to make this world a better place.    

#86- Ice Cream

The ringer on my phone went off yesterday and it sounded like celebratory trumpets to my ears. That's because it signalled an email I received telling me I got a job at an ice cream store.

Finally, paid employment!

So while last week at this time I had zero jobs, now I have two. So in honour of that, I decided to write about the very thing I'll be dealing with for hundreds of hours over the next few months: ice cream.

I love ice cream. Some of my best memories of childhood include ice cream, from getting Superkid as a treat with my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, siblings and cousins to hanging out and eating soft serve ice cream on the grass at Ribfest with my friends. Yes, ice cream is a powerful force, bringing people closer together and, if you're not careful, closer to being overweight.

But I never worried about that because ice cream was a special treat for me and it still is. It signals the end to a good day, a special summer afternoon or a family outing.

Ice cream also lets you express yourself. That may seem a little weird to think about, but as a guy who thinks about food more than is probably healthy, I think many foods do let you define yourself. But ice cream even more so. There are so many flavours that you are not limited to what someone else wants or what you always have. It allows you to be adventurous, or traditional or both. It lets you mix and match and lets the world know if you are zany or classy or whatever you want to be.

Also ice cream just tastes good. There's no two ways about that.

So I am grateful for ice cream. I am grateful for the way it can bring people together over something so delicious. I am grateful that it can be a special treat on the hot summer days or to cheer up cold and drizzly ones. And I am grateful that it is around or I may still be unemployed right now.