Just Thinkin’: Reflections on ice cream

Can I be prejudice if I’m not aware of my prejudices? Do my prejudices make my life easier? Why do I like my prejudices so much?

But I like my prejudices. They make my life easier. A prejudice allows me to function without having to constantly get bogged down examining and reexamining every cognitive conflict I encounter.

On the other hand, do my prejudices cause me to miss out on a number of otherwise quite positive life experiences? No doubt.

An example, I know I like vanilla ice cream and strawberry ice cream. Chocolate, not so much, chocolate mint even less. Dark chocolate, now you’re losing me for sure. Billie’s beloved black walnut, well, good for her. “No, I don’t want to taste it, but thanks for offering.”

Or as Dason, my great-grandson, keeps saying, “You’d love this Birthday Cake ice cream!” Again, thanks for offering.

I do like orange sherbet. A number of folks respond negatively to its mere mention. I’m guessing they didn’t have a grandmother who loved it. I had some excellent conversations with her over a dish of orange sherbet.

Further, Braum’s is the best. Am I prejudice against Blue Bell and some other stellar ice cream brands? You bet I am. Oh, wait, I have really fond memories of Ward’s Ice Cream dipped straight from the container to the cone in Head’s Pharmacy. Wasn’t that made in Fort Smith?

My preferred life style requires choices about ice cream. My prejudices make these choices uncomplicated. Strawberry or vanilla? No, then how about an orange sherbet?

The renowned American author, E.B. White, said, “Prejudice is a great time-saver. You can form an opinion without having the facts.” I agree. Prejudice allows me to quickly make a decision about my ice cream order without excessive thought.

Obviously, I haven’t been writing about racial prejudice. I just wanted to write about how commonplace the process of using our prejudices to create stereotypes is. Kind of speak up in defense of a vital intellectual process, prejudice, to pre-judge, to use past experiences to pre-judge.

Thing is, in today’s world, when you say prejudice, everyone immediately thinks race. I understand that is where the emotional load is. I noticed how when I added the word racial in front of anything, a whole lot of prejudices leaped into place. You just say prejudice and the entire world becomes electric.

I’ve now escaped to my back porch, Coca-Cola and red solo cup filled with ice in hand. What do my prejudices do for me? They allow me to reduce the number of trivial decisions I have to make during a typical day. Okay. But I add the term racial in front of it, racial prejudice – . At this point, the word trivial goes out the window.

Know what’s troubling me? People merit more consideration than my ice cream cone.

“He had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favor of two.” – Charles Dickens

By Hal McBride, who was raised in Haskell County and is the author of several books, which are available at the Haskell County Historical Society.