Ice Cream is Interesting?

You may be asking yourself the question above.  How can frozen dairy treats be interesting?  Add people.  People always make things interesting.  I'd like to share interactions I have with customers, employees, and vendors and I already have a story from today.

It was a slow day, which one might expect on a cold winter day after Christmas.  The phone rang and a man on the other line said he would like to order an ice cream cake for that afternoon.  I responded by telling him that we need 48 hours notice for custom ice cream cake orders, but we have pre-made ice cream cakes at the store and he could come in and select from one of those.

(Ice Cream side note:  It really does take 48 hours to make an ice cream cake, we don't just make that up.  The cake is made in a metal mold, much like you would bake a conventional cake.  However, the bottom is a separate piece that can be pushed out.  We put the cake mold on the counter, with the bottom in it.  We smash white or chocolate cake in the bottom then pour fresh ice cream into the mold.  We then put it in the freezer to allow it to freeze to the shape of the mold.  It's much like jello molds; they need to set.  You can't take the cake (or jello) out until it has set.  That takes about 12 hours.  We can then run the cake mold under some running water and pop the cake out, and decorate it, which is done on the 2nd day of the 48 hours.  Just FYI)

The male caller then said, "But I'm a surgeon, and I don't get off of work until 5pm."  I find it interesting that he thought it necessary to interject his occupation into the dialogue.  A good majority of American's get off from work at 5pm, so I don't think the surgeon comment was needed.  You went through med-school, congratulations.  When I call a restaurant I don't say, "I have an MBA, and I would like a reservation." 

I digress.  I replied, "Well, we are open until 10pm..."  I then mentioned again that he could come select any cake that we already have made in the store up until 10pm.  He then said in a snide tone,"So you can't put anything on it (i.e. write on the cake)... You're awesome (sarcasm) thanks" and hung up on me.

He didn't ask, "Can you write on the cakes you already have?"  He assumed for whatever reason that we couldn't write on the cake.  How he came to that conclusion, I don't know. 

I thought he was rather curt, and a poor communicator.  So I did what he didn't expect: I used the caller ID and called him back.  After it rang 4 times, I said with a smile, "Hi, is this so-and-so (because I did remember his name)?"  I told him who I was and what store I was with.  "We can write on the cakes we already have here.  And I can have it done by 5pm so you can pick it up after work.  Is there a particular flavor you are looking for?" 

Why he found it necessary to be so rude puzzles me.  If he had said from the beginning, "Oh, ok, I'd like one of the cakes you have in the store.  Is it possible to have Happy Birthday written on it?  And can I get it before 5pm?"  Apparently they don't teach communication or people skills at med school.