Mystery ice cream man, well done

The little boy was doing what little boys do when their mothers stand in front of the counter at the local gas station and start digging in their purse for the money to pay for their gas.

He began scanning the candy racks.

Not his fault. If you’re going to place row after row of candy practically at eye level in front of a kid, you know what’s coming next. In fact, that’s why the candy is there in the first place.

And the inevitable happened.

“Mom.” No, let’s make this more accurate. “Mawwmm. Can I have ...”

I didn’t hear the rest. I was doing the rock-back-andforth wait behind them, cash in hand, eager to pay for my gas and get on my way at the end of a long day. “Mawwmm.”

The woman shot him a glance that he took for a yes.

Years of practice had given him the expertise to know when her look meant yes, I’d guess. A chocolate bar shot onto the counter, where it was scanned and added to the total.

More digging into the purse. Then the realization. Then another glance — more a half-glance — over her shoulder at me.

It’s the “sorry I’m taking so long” glance. I’m Canadian. We know how to say sorry.

“I’ve got to run to the car,” she sighed. “I’ll just be a second.”

I smiled as she dropped all but the additional $1.25 on the counter — I remember when a chocolate bar was a dime, but that wasn’t yesterday — and dashed out the door to root for change in her car.

The guy behind the counter turned on his thousand-yard stare. There’s nothing exciting about waiting for five quarters. The little boy eyed the bar, still on the counter. I slid forward, dropped the cash for my gas on the counter, plus five quarters.

The counter guy looked, I nodded, and left before Mom returned from her dash for cash. Sitting in my car, I smiled as I watched the final act of this little drama play out.

The little boy was chewing on his bar as she arrived.

“I haven’t paid for that yet,” I’m guessing she said to him, based on her body language.

“That man paid for it,” he said.

Her head shot around, looking for “that man.” I smiled all the way home.

And I’m guessing it’s something like that for P.E.I.’s ice cream mystery man. Kudos, by the way, to reporter Kristin Gardiner and the staff at this news organization for finding the man, and agreeing to keep his identity secret.

He’s the guy who made headlines recently by paying for 101 ice cream cones at eight diary bars — from Summerside to Souris, from O’Leary to Montague. That’s 101 at each place.

“I travel a lot, so I see that the world has become a very hectic, different place lately,” he said. “I’m hoping that this way, people will see the kids and think of the future.”

Pressed for more, he explained.

“I know it sounds simple, but I want people to look at this busy, hectic world and just slow down,” he said. “Put some smiles on kids’ faces. Let them know there are still people there. If there’s anything they need, we’re still behind them.”

Actually, that doesn’t sound simple, it sounds exactly right. Nicely done, sir. Nicely done.