Steve Heaps, Master Scooper

Immediately following dinner at the Weary, Karen, Kim and I headed to State Street for forty-five cent ice cream cones in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the locally-owned Chocolate Shoppe. Because of the weather, there were very few customers taking advantage of this fabulous deal. When we approached the counter to gaze at the gallons and gallons of magical flavors, the guy behind the counter announced that it was their anniversary and cones were only forty-five cents from 4–9 p.m. “Yes, we know,” we excitedly interrupted.

There were at least five male scoopers behind the counter, who had clearly anticipated much greater sales that night, and they immediately took a liking to us. And how could they not? We all ordered our cones, and coincidentally all chose to include a scoop of “Heaps of Love,” which is a creamy vanilla based flavor with everything-but-the-kitchen sink: chocolate, caramel, brownies, Oreos, pecans, and cookie dough. Well it just so happened that Steve Heaps, the ice cream’s namesake and “master scooper” happened to be working that evening. Steve loved us. After much bonding, we took a picture with Steve, and he even showed us his ice cream scooping hand muscles, but assured us that he’s not usually one to show off his muscles to the ladies. Can you see how the muscle by the thumb on his right hand is so much larger than the left? Clearly, Steve has been scooping for many years. Maybe you can’t see it very well from the picture, but trust me, his muscles were bulging. There’s nothing like a man who can scoop some ice cream.

Before we left, Steve asked for our names and shook our hands. He called us Special K. We asked if he would create a flavor for us, and he said he would. I could tell his mind was immediately churning through the flavor possibilities. We are planning to frame the picture of all of us and bring it to Steve early next week. So that he may never forget his Special K.