The Psychology of Ice Cream

Today’s guest Fox is Heather Gray.

I’ve decided that you can tell a lot about a person by knowing their favorite ice cream flavor.

 

For example, I prefer coffee flavored ice cream. That says I’m bold, intelligent, and philosophical. (Mint chocolate chip is my second favorite, which means I like to laugh and that I’m thoughtful and daring.) Then there’s my son. He likes chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. He likes the familiar while still enjoying variety, and he’s handsome. (Yes, his ice cream choice says that.) My husband is a connoisseur of cookies and cream, which tells me that he likes to be around people who make him laugh, enjoys badly-dubbed Kung Fu movies, and prefers solitude over crowds.

 

Variety in ice cream is like variety in life. We can’t all be the same, and really, who’d want to be? So what does your favorite ice cream say about you? Do you like change? Adventure? Are you loyal? A leader? Creative?

 

And just in case you’re wondering, this is a highly scientific practice. It’s called Icecreamology.

 

In preparation for this post, I thought I should do some research about ice cream. I learned quite a bit. For example, Tim Tebow prefers vanilla. Robert Downey, Jr., likes Neapolitan. Jack Nicklaus is all about the butter pecan. (I found this information at BrainyQuotes.com, but In Style and People Magazine have entire online articles dedicated to the favorite flavors of the stars. I’m not quite dedicated enough to do THAT much research, though.)

 

Don Kardong once said that, “Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos.” Now, I’ve never actually heard of Mr. Kardong before, but I think he has a valid point here. And I got the quote from Goodreads, so it has to be true.

 

I’ve written ice cream scenes into more than one book. Ten Million Reasons has a great scene where the heroine insists that only girls eat fruity ice cream…while the hero orders a ridiculously named fruit-flavored ice cream.

 

Most recently is my novella An Informal Christmas.

 

Rylie Durham enjoys her ice cream. It’s a special treat. She likes it so much, in fact, that she can’t possibly choose a favorite flavor. As a result, she always has more than one carton in her freezer. The variety is half the fun.

 

Then she asks a handsome man about his favorite flavor.

 

“Vanilla.”

 

The one flavor guaranteed not to cross the threshold of her freezer. After all, who would ever buy vanilla when there are so many other delectable choices out there?

 

Zach York, that’s who.

 

Don’t worry, though. Rylie and Zach knew each other for several months before they had the all-important ice cream conversation. Had they started off with that, they might not have gotten off to as rosy a start as they did. *chuckle*

 

Here’s an excerpt from chapter one of An Informal Christmas:

 

With a shove to the door, she exited the stairwell and stood on a narrow landing with skylights above and a view of the hospital’s lobby below. Ten steps to the left, and she broke through to the hallway-of-no-return. Nobody came up to this floor unless they worked in one of the three departments exiled here. The first door belonged to the chaplaincy. The second led to the main office for the hospital social workers. The third door, decorated with construction paper butterflies and cotton ball caterpillars, was home sweet home — Child Life.

 

“I can’t believe how rude people have become!” Rylie vented about the man in the elevator as she stepped past the colorful decorations and into her domain. Suzie, the part-time department head who kept their ship running tighter than junior size spandex on a burly linebacker, wasn’t at her desk. Their offices were anything but spacious, though, so she was likely still within hearing distance. After all, what was a good venting without someone to listen?

 

“I was running for the elevator, but the guy inside didn’t even wait for me. He let the doors slide closed. Because obviously it wasn’t big enough for two of us.” She left out the part about his back being to her. Absolving him of guilt wasn’t high on her priority list at the moment.

 

Suzie emerged from The Vault, a nether region of their office used for storage. She dusted her hands off and frowned at Rylie. “We have company.” She waved at the man following behind her. “This is Mr. York. He brought several boxes of stuffed animals for our kids.”

 

No way. Not… Lots of guys wore denim jackets, right? It couldn’t be the same…

 

*****

Wait! Don’t go yet! Comment below and tell me your favorite ice cream flavor and what you think it says about you. One commenter will be randomly selected to win a print copy of An Informal Christmas. The rest of you will have the joy of buying it yourselves. (Good thing the e-book’s only 99c!) ^_^

 

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017L07I0G/

 

Where you can find me:

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