When college got out in May, there was a bit of disappointment as I faced the reality of having to work all summer, five days a week. I thought I was lucky to have landed a job at a local ice cream and hamburger stand because if I had to work, it seemed like it would be less work if I was surrounded by two things I loved. I learned a lot about myself and other people as I put in my hours, and now as it is almost time to head back to school, I am sad to leave my friends and our customers.

At an ice cream stand, especially during a summer as hot as this one has been, there are tons of one-timers; the people passing through who see the sign and make that quick turn into the parking lot to grab a refreshing cone. But there are also the regulars, and they are the ones who make work less like a job and more about connecting with people.

There is the couple who, both retired teachers, taught my parents when they were in high school; they came once a week. They said they “could tell” who I was because I resemble my dad so much. At the beginning of summer it was all kind of formal and a little awkward, but now they are like old friends who have interesting stories to share each week.

There is the little girl who comes with her mom. The first day I remember her coming, she insisted on carrying her cone to the table even though her mother wanted to help her; she cried so hard when she flipped that cone onto the sidewalk. Ever since that day she wants me to make her ice cream cone because I made her a replacement one for the cone she dropped.

There is the guy with cerebral palsy who comes each week for “a hamburger and a Mexican sundae;” his neighbor brings him. That guy knows everyone’s name where I work, and he always asks how each one of us is doing and even asks about the people who aren’t working that day. Almost everyone that comes when he is eating there stops to talk to him, and he is always ready to talk.

A lot of local summer sports teams come in after their games, and at the beginning of the summer the kids wanted their parents to order, and now they all come screaming up to the window to ask for their ice cream. And they seem to think it’s magic when I know what kind of ice cream they want; they seem to forget they have been ordering the same kind for eight weeks.

I thought when I started this job that I would just be making the money I needed for my next year at college, but I learned so much about myself and other people. I learned a lot from the people I saw each week, and even from the people I only saw once or twice. A lot of friendships can be made when food is involved.