http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/132530.php
I am so glad that the scientists have proven that sugar can be highly addictive….
I have a massive sweet tooth, that I am finding it difficult to control, esp. when I am stressed or have loads of work to do. Tangerines are good substitutes, but they just won’t do….
At work today, I was thinking of that ice cream with so many good chunks of fattening goodies, like chocolate fudge and pecan nuts. Mmmm…. Just thinking of those high sugar goodness lapping on my tongue… You know which ice cream I’m talking about… That one where the sales clerk sings while preparing, and the name of the store sounds like “commonwealth,” but it quite isn’t.
Because there is no way in the world an ice cream chain, as wacky as it is, would name themselves “commonwealth,” I had to ask my colleagues. They’ve told me that “you mean Cold Stones Cream? The ones where they sing?”
“Yes, that is the one! But they never sang to me though….”
“Really? I thought they always did.”
Me too. Imagine my disappointment (?) when the clerk didn’t sing while squishing the nut into the vanilla ice cream on the cold pan….
So after work, I HAD to get my mouth into those super minty chocolatey ice cream sprinkled with more fat. So I bicycled (I cycle to work) all the way to the department store in Shinjuku. On the top floor, there was the place, with a little queue. This ultra-chirpy chick with a necklace made from different cup sizes came waltzing in to hand me the menu and get my order.
For those that have never been to Cold Stone Creamery, because they are not addicted to sugar as I am, they offer different cup sizes with weird names like, “Like It!” “Love It!” and “Gotta Have It!” Jesus, they do understand their clientele, don’t they?
So I chose Gotta Have IT! Cuz my craving was too much.
And boy, this place is a one warped out place.
Basically, the ice creams are prepared by scooping the ice cream and mashing it up with different ingredients, such as fruits, nuts, and fudge, on top of the cold pan that looks like hot pan, making it look as if they are making some serious meal… like teppan yaki.
So this chick was making this menu, and she’s like “now, we’re gonna add the strawberry… Then nuts,” and her co-worker walked past by her, peering at what she was making, and went “oh my god, that is so cute.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
“That is going to be soooo delicious!”
Erk….
The girl who served me seemed to have a synthetic smile, one end of her mouth stretched apart from one another to maximum…. Constantly smiling makes you look synthetic…
And she did the same with me and explained what the ingredients were, and she had a little chit chat… Then she asked “because you’ve ordered I’ve gotta have it, we can give you a song as a present. Would you like it?”
I guess i COULD have said no, but I said “why not?”
I’m quite sure this store was catered to those who like to live in a world where everyone should be smiling every possible minute, and anyone reading depressing books are considered “weirdos.” So basically, a thermal difference arises between the parlormaids and when people like me come hopping down the store.
So the chick was like “we’re gonna sing!” in a way that shamed all those Disney movie cast members. And everyone in the store, those preparing other people’s ice creams, walking around busily, started to sing along the tunes of We Wish You a Merry Christmas “We wish you a happy ice cream, we wish you a happy ice cream, and a happy new year.”
Bleh-
It was soooo bizarre….
I am assuming that they do the same in their country of origin, U.S…..
For those who are curious what it looks like, someone who was bold enough to request the shops clerk to sing and have a filming fetish has posted a video here:
Oh, and the store might have a creepy synthetic happy happy culture, the ice cream rocks in pacifying the addict’s urges.
By the way, how much do they get paid by an hour?
In the US shops, they sing every time they get a tip. Since there’s no tipping in Japan, I was never quite clear whether there’s a particular timing or trigger or something.
PS I can appreciate how frustrating it can be to be constantly asked about who you are and where you’re from. I can only imagine what it’s like to grow up in Japan and to have people around you constantly questioning that you could possibly be Japanese.
But look at it this way: people are interested in your background. They find you interesting. They think that you must lead an interesting life or have had an interesting childhood. I certainly think that growing up biracial or bilingual or bicultural in Japan sounds interesting. From my point of view, based on who I am and where I grew up, New York is pretty boring.
People rarely ask me about my background. They look at me, decide I’m white, and move on, and aren’t interested one bit in who I am. I find this frustrating as well, because not all white people come from some generic homogeneous thing – we all have individual cultural and ethnic and national differences too.
So when someone asks you questions about your background, it’s not always to put you down, to pick you out, or to deny your Japaneseness. It’s to express genuine interest in what, from their point of view, is an interesting background, a unique and interesting identity.
Cheers toranosuke for your answer to what the original counterpart sings for! Thanks for the comment regarding an another post.
Sorry for the late reply, but I have been very very busy recently.
I really appreciate your view. I guess what people like us are forced to do is learn how to deal, try not to let it get to us that much by knowing that “they are only interested,” and when we are with people that understand us (like family and other halfs), rant a bit. It is not a big deal, and you are right! Some people (namely celebrities) capitalize on people’s interest regarding mixed background people. But sometimes, just sometimes, we feel like ranting, and I really appreciate understanding people like yourself.