Kids rush to their parents and beg for some coins. Outside, they wait for the vehicle to stop at their spot. The sound of bells disappear in the air. Manong ice cream or Mamang Sorbetero , as the vendor is called, served the craving little ones with a scoop of colorful flavored ice cream. This is the common scenario in the streets especially during summer. With the ringing of the bells, the kids know for sure what is approaching. They want to have that cold thing with a taste of mango, strawberry, melon, ube, langka, cheese, peanut, chocolate or just plain vanilla. Sometimes, not only the kids crowd Manong ice cream, even teens and adults want to have a taste of ice cream in a cone, in a sugarcone or in a cup. It usually sells at a price range of three to ten pesos depending on the size of the cone or cup to where it is placed. Most kids prefer the scoop to be in cone while the adults want it in cup. Kids didn't care if the ice cream is melting and flowing at the side of the cone, they want it that way so they can lick it back to the top. They don't mind the sweet thing running on their fingers, they can also lick their fingers once they are done with the cone; not minding that they had used their hands playing in the streets. It's the essence of childhood, enjoying with no worries of what you are doing. As for the teens and adults, they want it in different holder because eating it in a cone is messy, they don't want to look yucky in front of others. Wherever it is placed, enjoyment is found in its taste. The coldness it offers during the hot weather plus the fruit flavored taste it brings, one feels like they had themselves served with something from heaven.
Unconsciously, ice cream is being a status symbol, may it be dirty ice cream or the ice cream brought in supermarkets. The feeling it brings is not only for the taste buds but also for the psychological bearing of the person eating it. Having an ice cream makes one believe that he is affording something which is not a basic need thus considered as a luxury. It is rare for a common individual to have a daily consumption of that cold thing. Even the name it is called also determine the status of the person buying it. When the low-income ones are buying it, they simply call it as ice cream; but when the average persons are buying it, they call it dirty ice cream. For the middle class, the thing tagged as ice cream is the one bought in gallons from the supermarket. Whatever their status in life, it cannot be denied that they are patronizing Manong ice cream.
