At that moment, the little girl’s life stopped and her world turned upside down. The long wait in the line, imagining what the ice cream would taste like. That first taste and the anticipation of more to come. Nothing could comfort her at that point. Her brother looked on and clutched his cone closer to himself, suddenly realising his tenuous grasp on his own ice cream. But even though he could comprehend something of the gravity of the situation, he couldn’t share his sister’s pain. He still had his ice cream.
The father turned to his daughter and explained that many children don’t have ice creams, that some people don’t even want them, and they have fulfilling trips to the park. Who are we to judge them for their different choices? After all, he reminded her, ice creams are ephemeral and hers was doomed from the moment it was handed to her. Whether or not it had fallen to the ground, ultimately she would have finished it or it would have trickled through her fingers within the next ten minutes. Why even buy ice creams if it gives so much potential for pain and suffering?
Unfortunately, the girl was deaf to her father’s wise words. To her, the loss was greater than if she had never been given an ice cream at all, and the fact that it was a particularly delicious ice cream made it worse.
