A Perth man has spoken out about an unusual grievance he has with the Western Australian capital.
The man is constantly frustrated by ice cream trucks never stopping to let him buy a sweet treat and ‘zooming by’ when he tries to hail one.
He said he heard the van playing music as it drove through the streets of the suburb where he worked, but never stopped for him.
‘Today I was waiting outside and I heard the music. He was burning up in the sun, but he was looking forward to that sweet, overpriced treat… and he turned off the music and just drove by the building,” the sweet tooth complained.
‘I just want an ice cream man. It’s very hot.’
A Perth man takes aim at the city’s ice cream vans, saying they never stop to let him buy a sweet treat and ‘zoom past’ when he tries to hail a van
The man said he works in an office building in Osbourne Park, an industrial area in Perth’s north.
He and his colleagues were excited when they heard the familiar tune of the ice cream truck as it drove through the nearby streets.
“We take a moment to determine where it is, as its song echoes through every building. “Oh, it’s on the other side of the buildings,” he explained.
“So we go back to work and wait for it to be over. And he just zooms by before anyone can run up and mark him.”
The ice cream lover and his colleagues witnessed someone down the street successfully get the van’s attention, but the driver sped away after they made their purchase.
“You see 10 people coming out of the same building wondering where he went, and they all throw their hands up like ‘OH COME ON!'” he said.
The disgruntled customer later waited in the scorching heat in an attempt to get an ice cream from the truck, only to leave disappointed when it turned off the music as it approached and drove past him.
“Ice cream trucks, you’re killing me here!” he exclaimed.
He shared his ice cream problems in a Reddit post where many others said they had experienced similar things with ice cream trucks in Perth.
‘I’m so glad I’m not the only one! It makes me so angry when it just happens. Come on buddy, take a look around. Stop in one place and sing that sweet song long enough for us to find you,” one user replied.
“If they play the music, it means they’re out of ice. I know this because my mom told me,” another joked.
“Honestly, I don’t know how they make money, the number of times I’ve waited patiently for the tune to get louder and come down my street, only to see the truck drive past my front window with the music off! Why do they do that? Do they only have enough ice for two streets or something?’ asked a third.
‘I haven’t caught one in the wild since the early 1980s. Just listen to their taunting melodies,” a fourth added.
One woman guessed why it was so difficult to pin down the ice cream truck and came up with a solution.
“You’re at the end of his run and he’s working overtime and just wants to dump the truck back at base and go home for a beer,” she said.
‘Buy a few paddle pop multipacks, put them in the freezer at work and let your colleagues enjoy them… profit as an ice cream dealer. Change your ringtone to Greensleeves.’