Dangle that (ice cream) carrot

Pictured is a photo I snapped outside one of the snack bars near a piste in La Clusaz. Here is an ice cream board with very few ice creams available. Okay, it’s been a warm winter, but not warm enough for ice cream sales to soar to the point of being sold out.

Black crosses adorn all but four brands (although the Cornetto brand has three of the four varieties still available).

The snack bar is only small, so it’s possible that they’ve never stocked the entire range shown on the board (although most seem to show prices written in the same black marker pen, indicating they were once available). Whatever the reason, this board is equivalent to dangling a carrot in front of a donkey’s face. “Oh look at the nice Double Caramel Magnum: how tasty eh? You want one? Too bad — you can’t have it. Drool over the photo while you chow down on a Chocolate Mini Milk instead.”

Surely the delivery rep from Miko has seen this dire shortage and could provide the snack bar with a sign showing a more restricted range of ice creams. Other places as small as the snack bar must surely have the same ice cream storage limitations. But then, maybe the snack bar is facing an ice cream shortage because the rep is taking advantage of this warm weather somewhere coastal. He or she is no doubt enjoying a few Double Caramel Magnums in the sun.

I’m curious to see what the ice cream board says next season when the snack bar re-opens for winter. Maybe there will be one big red circle around the Twister to highlight that it’s still available amongst all its crossed-out peers.