Ellington

Mister Ice Creamy Man: "I knew this day would return. Gas prices are high and climbing. I was ready for a good year to sell creamy ice cream and juicy Popsicle products to the community. I looked forward to seeing the faces of happy children after expanding my Mister Ice Creamy routes to new communities. I had plans to have my truck repaired and overhauled with all the extra profit from ice cream sales. I even thought about going part-time at my day job.

"Oh well, I guess my wife and I will experience another year of doing more with less—more work with less money. It seems like these rich corporations have people like myself trapped in a cycle of abuse. Or have we enabled and/or facilitated this cycle with our own abusive, overindulging behavior?

"Listen to me, as I rant and philosophize about the increase of gas prices. All of this unrest and uncertainty makes me think of these lyrics from a song by the late jazz musician named Sun Ra: ‘What do you know when you know you are wrong? You got to face the music.'

"I guess we all have to face the tune of change and learn how to adjust to things like cold-hearted people, global warming, price gouging, selfishness, greed and the trickle down economic theory.

"It sure is a beautiful day to sell some ice cream products to the community. I just hope my ice cream truck has enough gas."