Ice Caps

I will admit that at many times I have been an ignorant country bumpkin when it comes to matters of food and culture. I’m still not sure which fork I should use first when I’m given the choice of more than one. But there are times when I am reminded just how far away from civilization I really am up here.

We have, at the entrance to our store, a counter that offers coffee, cappuccino, and kool-aid slushies. Of course it isn’t real cappuccino. It’s the same stuff you get at Tim Hortons: a form of glorified hot chocolate that is 98% sugar and 2% water. The slushies are even worse. They are so sweet that the kids in town complain if we don’t water down the mix.

Just before Christmas, the company sent us iced cappuccino mix. Once again, coffee flavored sugar, only this one was designed to go in our slushie machine. Now here is a tip for all you future entrepreneurs reading this blog. There is no worse time to launch an iced drink product than when the temperature is 20 below. Sales were sluggish to say the least.

One night, just before close, a woman approached me while I was working at the till.

“How much are your ice caps?”

I told her the price and she paid for a large. Five minutes later she came back to the till with two large paper coffee cups in hand.

“I wanted to get one for my husband too. I’ll pay for another.”

“Are we out of slushie cups?” I asked. Most people get slushies in clear plastic cups. The woman looked confused.

“No, I just want to pay for another large.”

I smiled politely and reached for her paper cup. It was warm.

“Those are cappuccinos,” I said. “They’re cheaper.”

“Yes, Ice cappuccinos. That’s another large.”

“No, what I mean is… ice caps are cold. Ice. They come from that machine over there. These are hot cappuccinos.”

I was trying to be polite as possible. Ice caps cost twice as much as regular cappuccinos, and she had already paid for one. But the woman was loosing her patience.

“Oh whatever!” She snapped. “Just ring it in.”

So I bit my tongue and rang in her drink.

The next day she came in again with some other people. I was on till again. I watched as she dispensed two “hot” cappuccinos from the machine. She came to the till. I smiled and said hello. She smiled back.

“Two hot ice caps please.”

“Anything else with that?”

“No, that’s everything.”

I wish I could say I took this one, but it was taken by Nicole through our living room window. Those are trucks driving southward along the winter road on the Mackenzie.