First comes the tinny tinkle of music, then the white truck appears and the kids go wild looking for anyone who will give them money for a Sno-Cone or one of the other treats for sale on this mobile menace.
I know, I loved the Good Humor guy when I was a kid, too. Nothing made my day quite like the sight of him driving down the hill toward my house. But as an adult, he terrifies me.
It isn't the driver himself who makes me so anxious, it's what he represents. He's a stand-in for every sick pervert who might want to abduct my son and change his life forever.
If they have the motive, that seeming symbol of purity provides them with the opportunity and the means to escape quickly with their prey.
So, we don't allow Colter the independence of walking to the truck himself and ordering without us. We stand quietly by his side while he gets his bubble gum Sno-Cone and pays, sending a silent -- but loud -- message: Not with my child, not on my watch.
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