May 24
...serving up your daily dish.
We would have taken a picture but then we would have had to double park -- just like the ice cream truck double parked in front of Ridgewood Ave. School in Glen Ridge -- at exactly 3 pm today, pick-up time.
Not only are there already way too many mom-mobiles there, here's just what we need: little kids running out in front of an SUV to get to the ice cream. Nevermind all the overweight Glen Ridge third- to sixth-graders or the obnoxious ice cream truck "music."
Karma violations 1.09 Reprehensibly Irresponsible, 2.01 Just Plain Rude and Obnoxious and 2.03 Blindly Self-Serving and Self-Obsessed.
Have a karma violation to report? The Barista deputizes you to make a citizen's arrest kvetch. Let us know.
(You can find out more about karma violation ticket books here.)
May 24, 2005 in Karma Violation | Permalink
My kid is skinny and we bought ice cream yesterday. His prices are extremely high. My kid knows that she can get a ChocoTaco at the snack bar for $1 but he charges $3. She said that from here on in she'll wait until she gets to the snack bar!And I got his soft serve and it was terrible!
Posted by: skinny mom's kid | May 24, 2005 4:45:05 PM
I know we've squeezed all the calories we can out of the topic of junk food in the schools, but it's in the news again:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-0/111691062647490.xml
Senate committee clears ban on school sales of junk food
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Public elementary and middle schools would be prohibited from selling soda and junk food under a package of measures approved yesterday by a Senate panel taking aim at a growing epidemic of childhood obesity.
The bills seek to restrict the amount of sugar, fat and salt that children consume, at least during the school day.
"The most effective way to prevent obesity in our children is to teach them the right way to eat," said Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), a physician who co-sponsored a similar measure in the Assembly.
Similar proposals have been introduced in at least 17 states this year, according to the national Conference of State Legislatures. Policies are on the books in a few states, including California and Arkansas, while a proposal in Connecticut would extend the ban to high schools.
The New Jersey legislation would prohibit public school vending machines from stocking any item that lists sugar as its first ingredient, or anything that has more than 8 grams of total fat, except nuts and seeds. The ban would be in effect until 30 minutes after schools close for the day.
The measures also require that vending machines in high schools be stocked with at least one healthy snack. Home-baked goods sold at fund-raisers would be exempt from the restrictions.
The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, has lobbied for the legislation.
Posted by: Chris | May 24, 2005 5:36:50 PM
From the Glen Ridge Municipal Code:
5.28.010 Regulations.
A. Use of Streets. No peddler shall have any exclusive right to any location, nor shall he or she be permitted to operate in any congested area where his or her operations might impede or inconvenience the public. For the purpose of this section, the judgement of a police officer, exercised in good faith, shall be deemed conclusive as to whether the area is congested or the public impeded or inconvenienced.
B. Inspection of Equipment. The equipment used or employed by peddlers of ice cream, foods, beverages, confections and other related commodities shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary manner and be subject to the inspection of the health officer or his or her authorized agents. Any violation found and not immediately corrected shall be grounds for revocation of the license.
C. Conduct.
1. No person or persons, whether licensed under the terms or provisions of this chapter or unlicensed, shall scatter, throw or deposit any garbage, handbills, advertisements, circulars or other printed matter in and about the street, sidewalk, parks and public places within the borough or upon the premises of any resident or property owner.
2. The use of any sound system upon any vehicle, including but not limited to bells, horns or musical playing devices used to attract patrons, is not permitted while any such vehicle is stopped or standing. Any sound device may only be used for a short period of time, not to exceed two minutes of continual playing. (Ord. 1397 (part), 2003: Ord. 374 § 1, 1924: Ord. 271 § 1, 1918)
-----------
So the ice cream guy should not only be hit with a karma violation.
Where I work, you can't vend/peddle ... whatever ... within 200 feet of a public or private school between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Posted by: Nancy | May 24, 2005 6:17:05 PM
Ahh, I see in my crystal ball....vigilante mom's chasing the ice cream trucks out of "the little town that time didn't forget".
I'm just nostalgic, remembering running after the Good Humor truck back in the sixties...The sound of the jingling bells......riding our bikes thru the fog sprayed by the mosguito trucks on a warm summer night....Those were the days!
Posted by: Bermuda PAZ | May 24, 2005 10:34:32 PM
"Up against the wall, Frozen Dessert Vendor! And, um, do you have any Strawberry Almond Crunch?"
Posted by: Chris | May 25, 2005 12:58:46 AM
The poor soul trying to make a living by selling ice cream is blindly self-serving and self-obsessed???
Get some perspective will you!
Posted by: Person of Interest | May 25, 2005 9:54:57 AM
Person of Interest,
When he double parks on a crowded school at pick-up time he is.
Posted by: The Barista | May 25, 2005 9:59:44 AM
My first job in the late '50s was "riding shotgun" on a Good Humor truck in the Bronx; the driver needed another pair of eyes. Fifteen years later, living near Washington Square Park, the guy with the Good Humor pedicycle also served up some mighty tasty weed, if you knew what to ask for. And if we think we need legislation to keep the little kiddies from eating junk food, we are not facing up to the issues very well.
Posted by: conan the icecreamarian | May 25, 2005 4:15:27 PM
