Melody (#877) 05-30-15

Melody and her husband, Andrew, have the Edy's Ice Cream concession on Main Street. She lived in Illinois for much of her life. In 1988 she went to Jamaica and stayed for three years. There she met Andrew.

I commented that Jamaicans in the U.S. Have the 'don't worry, be happy' upbeat attitude, but in Jamaica people seem unhappy. She disagreed. “Jamaicans are a wonderfully generous and happy people.” Americans see locals in the tourist areas, a different population from the countryside.

Melody and Andrew had an Edy's store in Tarpon Springs for 12 years. Edy's used to carry frozen yogurt, but sales dropped off after nine eleven and it was discontinued. She conjectured that with world events so uncertain, people were less concerned with diet and went for real ice cream.

The allegedly ideal location for their store would be St. Armand's Key. But the rents are so high, and traffic so abysmal, that they prefer a more laid back spot. Then she went into some stupid employee stories – that is ultimately why they run the store themselves. I told her about an episode in a Dairy Queen. My wife ordered the smallest Blizzard. Accidentally the employee made the next size up. When I pointed out the error, he shrugged, threw the Blizzard in the garbage, and made the smaller one. Melody howled. Yep, that's why she and Andrew run the store themselves.

Bob