Over a recent weekend I walked into an ice cream shop, located roughly a half-hour drive from Greenfield. Upon entering, I first asked the girl behind the counter if they carried “Rocky Road.” Yes, I know that particular ice cream is fairly obscure in today’s world of matcha tea and chocolate brownie; nevertheless I wanted some of that marshmallowy, nutty goodness because that was what my mother used to get when I was a kid … from that place with 31 flavors.

Of course the answer I received was “no,” so I asked for a sample of the espresso-chocolate flavor. Instantly, my taste buds were hit with that satisfied sensation of espresso-flavored chocolate chunks meeting a very solid coffee ice cream base. Then, the inevitable had to come: the question that usually results in me leaving with only a tiny, wooden sampling spoon.

“Do you add any thickeners to your ice cream?” Polite as she was, it was no surprise when she quickly walked back and asked a man who, I took from the interaction, would know the answer to my question. Much like a pantomime tragedy, the man’s face dropped slightly and he quietly mumbled to her, “Yes.”

Why should I care so much about whether or not my ice cream includes what some may refer to as “non-traditional ingredients”? Well, that is the question.

The ice cream parlor of the past century came about, I would argue, from the strengthened purchasing power of the average American citizen, albeit in the shadow of two world wars. Dairy, eggs, and sugar (what some may consider “traditional ice cream” ingredients) were still common staples of rural America when our grandparents were first listening to Nat King Cole. How pleasant … and idealistic.

Fast forward to 2025, and you have a reality where the cost to the ice cream shop owner is on such an increasing slope that in order to keep the doors open they must cut their product with filler to make ends meet. Soon I realized that at some point in time I had wandered into an actual society, itself with a comparable disingenuous bouquet.

Open the doors to the American Ice Cream Shop and you might find much of the same thing. Just how Ben and Jerry (who once championed authenticity) sold out to a corporation on high, so too have most of our leading national and state politicians. Now, it is no longer the United States of America, it is the United States of America brought to you by ________ Incorporated.

Artificial ingredients run amok. However, instead of simply thickening an ice cream, they move a herd which is the American public from one manufactured distraction to the next. Don’t waste time asking about whether the reality presented is true to how it is being presented. Things are going great.

That perhaps, is the one glimmer of hope left for those remaining with common sense.

Think back to a time when you knew someone who owned a small business. Perhaps the ice cream parlor metaphor would serve the point I’m trying to make best of all.

Whatever the demographic, picture in your head an ice cream shop owner. When things are going well for their business, do they make a big to-do or broadcast the news to the world? Most likely … not. If a person comes into a load of fresh currency, do they not try to keep it fairly quiet, so that any potential poacher or relative may not pick up the scent of new money? Take the reverse situation, and this may be something no one wants to hear over such a difficult-to-obtain festive holiday season.

Imagine that person now experiencing the strain that typically precedes bankruptcy. Do they not reassure those around them (including themselves) that everything is “fine.” Is it not common for those who go through such challenging times to present a facade so that they and their loved ones are not overcome by stress and anxiety? These human realities, which could pervade the very heart of all of us, are no stranger to those who have lived upon the River of Denial.

Maybe a war with Venezuela is just what we need this holiday season. Sure, I didn’t order “Invasion Mint” or “Spy-craft Sorbet”, and maybe I had a sample of “Imperialism Swirl,” but one thing is for certain, and that’s the fact that my cup is not only too crowded with flavors that are undesired, they’ve been cut with things which flat out make me sick.

Ahmad Esfahani lives in Greenfield.