2. Professional ice cream tasters are a subset of food scientists. Most have degrees in dairy science, food science, or chemistry. They also need healthy taste buds and an imagination as deep as an ocean. Some flavors explode like fireworks in the mouth. Other flavors are more subtle. To maintain their taste buds the tasters avoid smoking, eating spicy foods, and getting sick. As far as their imaginations go, their labs are their playgrounds. They allow their minds to think of new and exciting flavors.

3. The tasters test the frozen treats at several stages of production. Along with taste, they assess the texture, color, appearance, and aroma of the ice cream. The tasters do this by taking a spoonful of the ice cream and swishing it around like mouthwash. The tasters want it to hit as many of their taste buds as possible. When they are done, they spit it out.

4. Inventing new flavors is another responsibility of an ice cream taster. Some flavors blend smoothly together, while other combinations are like oil and water. Determining which flavor is which is like shooting arrows at a target while blindfolded. Many ideas will miss the mark and fail. Others will hit the bullseye and be successful. Ice cream inventors consider the balance between sweet and tart, crunchy and smooth, and strong and subtle.

5. But finding an ice cream tasting job is like an Olympic event. Job seekers will have to outshine many other ice cream loving applicants. Previous experience working in an ice cream parlor or in the dairy industry will help an applicant leap over others in line for the job. However, facing this tough competition does have its rewards. Professional ice cream tasters earn between $40,000 and $100,000 a year. Their paychecks are the sprinkles on their sundaes!

2. The parking lot was even more hazardous than usual. I had to avoid being hit by distracted drivers. Wind-driven carts whizzed toward me like dodgeballs in a school gym. I was a gazelle leaping from potential disasters. When I finally reached the store, I attempted to wrangle a shopping car from a dozen held together like links in a chain. I yanked and yanked until one separated from others. As I pushed the cart toward the first aisle, the broken wheel in front squealed like a pig.

3. My first stop was the produce section; this had become my habit after watching a news program on healthy shopping. The reporter claimed starting with fresh fruits and veggies would improve one's attitude and thus the entire shipping experience. That woman was a ray of sunshine. I though following her advice would make me more cheerful as I faced my adversaries in the aisles. However that program was not taped in the store where I shop.

4. The produce section where I shopped was a minefield of germ. Shoppers coughed as they hung over stacks of celery and bins of pineapples. They wiped their noses and then fingered through bushels of green beans and barrels of avocados. They lifted cantaloupes to their noses to sniff for freshness. I did not leave that sections with the reporter's positive outlook.

5. My experience did not improve as i went through the aisles. The same individuals whose cars I had to dodge in the parking lot were now in charge of big, metal shopping carts. Maneuvering through the aisles was like riding in a bumper car. By the time I reached the freezer aisles, I had been bumped from the front, back, and both sides and had the bruises to prove it.

6. I dashed through the freezer aisles like a dancer. I skirted around other shoppers and stalled carts with amazing grace. My arm shot in and out of cases as I grabbed the items on my shopping list. I was a bee gathering pollen and the freezer cases were my garden rows. I worked my way through this final section, shivering as I went. At last, I was finished and peace of mind was only a check-out line away.