The Scoop. It’s an ice cream place in my hometown. I have been going to it since I was a little girl, and I wanted to work there when I was older. I got my wish.Â
Now, it’s my second job. Some days I absolutely adore it and other days I despise it, but I will always love it. From the days where I work nine hours to the days where I work two, it has been my place to leave me and just exist for a few hours. When I work, on the slow days, we sit and talk like therapy sessions helping each other out. And on the busy days, we look at each other with disgust when a customer says something outright stupid, and we have to be nice.Â
While I have only worked there for only one season, I don’t know how I have lived my life without it. When I was going through rough times, I would know that I could go to work and just forget about it, or I could sit there and eat ice cream while sulking in my pain. I never felt more welcomed in a place like that.Â
While it is just a high school and college summer job, it will be one that I will talk about forever. I would love to have my kids work there and have them experience the love from there. It’s like our own little family, The Scoop family. I have meet best friends, I have served best friends, but I love taking people there just to see it. While to others it looks like a small-town ice cream shop, I look at it almost like my third home away from home, with Bonas second on that list.Â
I hope that everyone has a job like that– one where love and happiness are at the forefront. We do work, too, but we care for each other, and if someone needs something or a shift taken, we often take it and give away our free time. While we do get paid more money, we are also building friendships that we wouldn’t have thought we could have created.Â
One moment that I remember quite well was at the beginning of the season. I had moved to my school my senior year and I had just started that job my senior year, but I have had a rough time making friends and having people to hang out with. I really didn’t do anything besides work and hangout with people from my old school. I went to work, and I hadn’t really known anyone who worked there, so I was standing at the corner trying to make it work and just be helpful for the girl training me. Soon, we started to talk, and we talked about our lives and our lore if you will, but it led me to not want the shift to end. I was excited to go back to work the next time I did.Â
I could not thank The Scoop enough for how much it helped me with finding friendships, but also building confidence in myself. I could see what it’s like to enjoy a job, and dislike it at times, but it also gave me a sense of home and a safe place when I couldn’t get away from problems and thoughts anywhere else. So, I thank you, The Scoop, and while I’ll enjoy the break from you and enjoy my extra free time, April cannot come fast enough to visit you again.Â