There was a time in my life when I was very punk rock and cynical. I was young, jaded, and underpaid. My cynicism has its roots in my first job — a Baskin-Robbins store in Palatine, IL.
I was a sophomore in high school and lied about my age to secure the position behind the counter.
“You’re fifteen?” he asked.
“Uh huh,” I lied. That was it.
The owner paid me $2.85/hr for six months as a ‘training wage’ and then bumped me up to $3.85/hr for the rest of my tenure at the store. I learned how to decorate ice cream cakes, flirt with old men for tips, and I had awesome biceps & triceps in my right arm thanks to scooping ice cream
- Co-founder of Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores dies at 90 - Yahoo! News Irvine Robbins, who as co-founder of Baskin-Robbins brought Rocky Road, Pralines ‘n Cream and other exotic ice cream concoctions to every corner of America, has died at age 90. Robbins had been ill for some time and died Monday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., said his daughter Marsha Veit.
As a side note: several years later, while in college, I received a check for over $500 — representing back wages and fees. This was my first exposure to HR. Now that I’m old and wise, I understand that the owner was taking advantage of my age to pay me less than minimum wage. At the time, I was kind of thankful to spend 10-20 hours/week surrounded by Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream!
It’s coincidental that you write this, because I’ve been meaning to ask you for some time now if you’ve ever tried the Baskin-Robbins bacon ice cream? If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. It’s absolutely fabulous. They start with their famous sweet cream, then add a dash of liquid smoke, then stir in some very generous slabs of good bacon. God, I really can pig out on that stuff. It probably won’t surprise you to also learn that this Baskin-Robbins bacon ice cream was flavor of the whole year for the entire year of the pig, which was 2007.
Did you know, incidentally, that for his last meal Timothy McVeigh only requested two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream?
On a more serious note, what in the world do you mean at the time you were thankful to be surrounded by mint chocolate chip?
And what on earth do you mean, there was a point in your life when you were very punk rock and cynical?
And what’s this you were young, jaded, and underpaid?
Dammit, Sucker! You better just be yanking our chains with all this past tense business.
My illustrious career began in an Baskin-Robbins at age 16. I have yet to find a workout that gives the great bicep/tricep tone of a summer spent packing pints and quarts, and scooping countless cones.
Mint Chocolate Chip was and still is my all time favorite flavor ever.
Oh, Miss Priss, I was being wistful. I should go back and revise because the present and future tenses apply.
There is something that links Al Qaeda, American Nazis, and Evangelical Christians together: it’s a shared love of sweet cream and high fructose corn syrup.
I hear that Osama bin Laden really loves a good Jamocha Fudge milkshake.
Oh Kelly, we are kindred spirits. xxxooo
Ah, now that you put it that way, it serves him right for walking in to find me behind the counter helping myself to samples.
Ah, memories.
OH MY GOD. I forgot about that incident. You almost got me fired. Ah, memories. I was so young.