The Dairy Queen Dream Team

It's not just about the ice cream

Let me tell you about Dairy Queen. I have always loved the ice cream with the little curl on top. I don’t know why. I can't explain it. I just like it. My enjoyment of it is simple, uncomplicated, and, as “always” suggests, long-running. When my children were born almost twenty-two years ago (twins), I got a Dairy Queen ice cream sheet cake (serves 24) to celebrate. Before that time and since, I have enjoyed Blizzards, Dilly Bars, and Buster Bars, and now and then a banana split. Except hold the banana, please - nothing natural allowed. But as time has passed, I have decided that I like just a cone the best, occasionally chocolate-dipped, but usually plain vanilla. I also have some Dairy Queen merch, a mug that my son gave me for Christmas one year. You probably won't be surprised that it is my favorite mug, both for the Dairy Queen logo on one side and for the fact that it fits my hand better than any other mug I have.

Now I will tell you about the best Dairy Queen where I live and how I became almost a daily phenomenon there. The summer before last I had a medical crisis. I was underweight to start with but by the end of it I was really twiggy and I wanted to regain the weight and then some for my physical and mental health. It was hot when I came home from the hospital. What would satisfy in this heat? What would give me some energy? Ice cream, I thought, and a lot of it. A no-brainer, really. I could have gone to the grocery and gotten a pint or a gallon but I wanted to make it more of a trip so I decided to go to Dairy Queen. Next question: which one? I really can’t remember anymore whether I went to my favorite store on this first go-round but as I visited other stores I realized that they couldn’t hold a candle to this store. The staff at these stores were unskilled, humorless, inconsistent, sometimes all three in one day, a bad but understandable combination. Fast-food work and dealing with the public is hard and often unpleasant, and I appreciate that people can have a bum day or week, for whatever reason. But instead of beefing about the service I just kept returning to my store. The cones could be a little sloppy now and then but they would always be generous. And if I asked they would supersize my large vanilla cone, adding a fourth glob to the hefty three already on the cone. It was a serious amount of ice cream. I will put it into perspective for you. Do you know those magnum Styrofoam cups for soda? One of my four-star cones would fill one of those cups. Do you know how I know? Because the day before holidays on which Dairy Queen is closed such as Thanksgiving and Christmas I would ask staff to make me an extra cone. To get it home in good shape, I would ask them to put in one of those cups. When I got home I would put it in the freezer to have the next day, the holiday. Stuff a turkey, stuff a stocking, stuff the cup: I was all set.

As you probably know, it does not take long to order an ice cream cone. But just because interactions may be brief that does not mean that they are superficial, unimportant, or uninteresting. Through these little windows, the staff at this store and I have gotten to know and care about each other. Me: How’s it going today? Amber, general manager: Whew! My daughters, they are wearing me out! I hope everything is cleaned up when I get home! I been here since five this mornin’! Me: How’s it going today? Latavia, manager: sigh, Thinking about some stuff that happened to me a while ago, trying to work it out . . . . Me: One day at a time. Me: How’s it going today? Neisha: Good! Good! I started training on the grill! The usual? Me: You know it! A few months ago I was out of town for a little while. We was so worried ‘bout you! Amber said when I returned after my trip. She called Latavia who was off that afternoon. Latavia! Miss Polly’s here! She okay! In addition to Latavia and Neisha, Amber's crew includes Shyanne, Jada, Jasmine, Donovan, Joey, and Mr. Troy. I know: sounds like a strip club line-up. As matter of fact, this Dairy Queen sits at an intersection across from an erstwhile strip club called The Toy Tiger. At this location now there is a Rally’s, a Jack-in-the-Box, and a Brakes 4 Less, all under the gaze of a billboard advertising a local Mr. Sparky franchisee (available 24 hours).

When I went into this Dairy Queen store, I knew that I would be getting ice cream. And I knew that I would be getting a lot of it. I was so famished. I was so hungry. Amber and her team gave me ice cream but they also gave me something just as necessary and restorative: community. Sweet, really sweet.

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