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Citizen complaint of the day: Too much ice-cream music at East Boston park
By adamg on Sun, 08/06/2023 - 6:05pm
An aggrieved citizen filed a 311 complaint this afternoon that there's only so much "Turkey in the Straw" one can stand:
Memorial Park East Boston. The ice cream truck has been playing his annoying song for 30 minutes.
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Comments
That just ain't right
I can stand about 3 minutes of that music before my left eye starts twitching.
You'll want to avoid this movie
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087072/
Laws and ordinances just ignored
I thought that there is a city ordinance that requires ice cream trucks to stop the music when they are stationary. But that does not show up on a search.
But then laws and economics just don't go together. There are still companies that charge fees for using credit cards although that is illegal in Massachusetts.
It is illegal to charge a fee to use a credit card
It is not illegal to offer a discount for paying in cash.
Illegal?
Is it illegal, or merely a violation of the store's contract with the credit card company?
In any case, the falsehood-in-advertising award goes to those stores who post signs like:
"We offer a 5% discount for paying in cash. All posted prices reflect that discount."
That's a damn surcharge, and for posting that sign you're a damn duplicitous weasel.
yup
Its a surcharge for using your card. It's not my fault that you were horrible at negotiating your charge card rates. Its called the cost of doing business. Don't like it too much, then don't offer it as a service and force everyone to pay cash (and watch your business drop).
Today I got a txt from T-Mobile stating that I would lose my 15 dollar discount for auto pay if I kept my credit card there. No T-Mobile, I don't want you have my debit card, so you can "ooops" double charge me and have the $ sucked out of my account. Then I get to spend 3-6 weeks fighting with you and my bank to get my money back. No thanks. I'll stick with my American Express who will take it up for me if you double charge me. Sorry been burned years ago by doing this on my debit card, and never again.
Point: I'm being charged more (sorry folks its a surcharge now) for using my credit card, after decades of "sign up for auto pay".
Fine by me, T-Mobile is going to lose a lot more than 15 bucks when I get done cancelling all my services except for my phone (I don't need them anyways) bring the bill down to its original 74.99/mo cost.
The minute they passed that law against "junk fees" some of the worst companies came out of the woodwork to recoup their losses. This sht should be illegal too.
You wanted us to use our credit cards more, so we did. Now we're almost cashless, and now they want to go back to debit cards because they are losing money. NOPE.
Of course, what with taxes
it's not like you knew what you were going to be charged anyhow. -.-
You’re probably thinking of
You’re probably thinking of the law in NYC. They can play music while moving, but can only ring a bell while parked.
This law makes sense 100%. It eliminates a totally unnecessary major nuisance for neighbors, while not reducing sales for the truck owners. Helllllooo Boston City Council, are you listening?
City of Boston ordinances
The City of Boston makes it extremely difficult to find its laws online. It’s almost as they didn’t want them obeyed or enforced.
Haha!
Troublemaker!
Public Nuisance
That truck is a public nuisance all over East Boston. "Turkey In The Straw" and then a drunk sounding woman bellowing "hellloww". It's 2023, who is buying ice cream off a truck?
How do you think people buy
How do you think people buy ice cream, on Amazon?
But the music is totally unnecessary. Kids know the truck is there without it.
At a store?
This is a confusing question.
REAL TALK
That HELLOWW is summertime nightmare fuel.
I do
if the truck is parked outside an event I'm attending, such as a Hatch Shell concert.
When I lived in Egleston …
… the truck passed far enough away that it wasn’t instructive and I came to like the sound. It signaled the end of the afternoon and the beginning of evening. A secular complement to the church bells that used to ring but no longer did after a few years.
Now I’m feeling nostalgic and wonder how I could make it into a ringtone.
Try listening to mopeds and
Try listening to mopeds and scooters wiith amped up noise and environment-killing emissions that make you sick as they race around Franklin Park every night til 5 a.m. Nobody with authority gives a shit cause they don't live here.
It's the song of summer
When I was the appropriate age, the ice cream truck used to stop in front of my house constantly. There were kids all over the place and at a T junction, so it was a great place to stop.
These are the things I miss about the old Roslindale.
I'll take day time ice cream
I'll take day time ice cream truck over all night scooter and moped racing.
Thank you...
...for illustrating the meaning of "false dichotomy" for the class.
Motorcycles are much worse than scooters
The police do nothing about these registered vehicles owned by middle class adults that fully understand that their aftermarket pipes are illegally loud. In the urban canyons of triple deckers it is unbearable.
Scooters cause too much noise and pollution. Those little engines pollute as much as some cars. Kids like them but most of them were bought (at least originally) by adults that needed affordable transportation. They are way too cheap. This should be a target of plug-in electric subsidies. They make electric motorcycles that can be charged on house current, and they are basically silent. Almost too quiet actually.
Tell me about it!
Some jackass rides his motorcycle on steroids down my street with unintelligible music blasting every Sat night at 2 am. There is a hose set up on our roof. One of these days he’s gonna get a soaking.
No.
please come to my house between 12 and 3pm every school day and you'll want to go over with a hammer and knock out the noise yourself.
See my reply below for more info why..
Ice Cream Truck Vendetta
I'm glad I am not the only one who is getting annoyed by these ice cream trucks.
Let me lay it out here first, I am not against the ice cream truck. We have 6 that circle this neighborhood, and only one I have an real issue with.
The other thing I want people to realize about these trucks is that.. what we remember as kids for the ice cream truck: A sweet friendly man who enjoys his job and meeting kids who swings into your neighborhood once a week or less is no more.
We need to remember ice cream trucks are basically food trucks. Why they are not regulated the same as Food Trucks is beyond me. I think its a hold over from the days gone by with that friendly man and happy kids, so we give them a pass. We really need not to.
Today its a business venture. Nothing more. And like all business ventures, many of them just do not care about the places they are serving. They are there to sell ice cream and nothing more. Nothing "a public service" about it.
Why do I say this?
As I said above, I have six of these trucks that circle my neighborhood from April to October. But only one I have an issue with. The others come maybe once every other week and are here for 20 minutes at most.
This one truck...shows up and parks in front of the school at 12:30pm while the kids are outside at recess. Then sits there until 2:15pm when the kids get out. His music comes on and he sits there for 20m and sells. Mind you, he's been selling the entire time since 12:30 pm, just with no music on.
He comes EVERY SINGLE DAY SCHOOL IS IN SESSION, RAIN OR SHINE.
Now don't try to tell me this isn't predatory. Sorry it's like fishing in a barrel. And then to top it off, to come early and park so you get the spot on the corner where all the kids are coming out. Yeah don't tell me you don't know what you are doing. What gets me is if this was McDonald's selling 25 cent cheeseburgers, the city would shut them down in a heartbeat.
That and why this school only? Chelsea has 3 other schools, 2 are elementary.. yet he comes to this one only? (he has no connection to this neighborhood as he is based in Everett, I've asked around). Yet comes this school every day. And why not Everett or Malden or Revere schools? Oh right, because Chelsea won't do a thing so you can continue this predatory nonsense. (And I called his home city, Everett, and was told he could not do this in everett, but since it is chelsea, they can't do anything unless an official from the city complains)
Then of course he vanishes for most of the summer. (I think so far he's come by twice since June 20th). Even on those hot hot days when you really want ice cream, and the other 5 trucks that do come by regularly make a killing. Because this guy figured out that he can predatory sell at a school when its in session, then join his regular gigs at parks/beaches/ball games during the summer and double his money. Scumbag.
And the scumbag will be back the first day of school. I'm willing to place a $10k bet, I am so sure he will. (I've been complaining about this guy for 6 years, and he always does).
So yeah I've complained. Multiple times. I finally got some movement last year. The city of Chelsea, rather than regulate him and pass an ordinance stating that you can't sell X feet in front of a school. (making him move to the opposite block where the park is would cut his business in half and not make it worth coming daily).. they decided to pass a noise ordinance about the music last year. So he can't be parked in a spot longer than 20m at a time with his music going.
So what does he do now? After 20m, he starts his van, drives 100 feet and parks for another 20m. So you are also stuck listening to this sht for two hours sometimes because its all within ear shot. He just doesn't do this in front of his school selling because he'd hafta move, that parking spot on the corner in front of the crosswalk must be a hellva selling point for this drug dealer. (sorry folks with his antics he is no better than a drug dealer staking his claim)
But yet I can't seem to get the city to do ANYTHING about this except that ordinance, which is not enough. The guy needs to be regulated more and be told he can't sell in front of school.
(that's my real complaint, not the noise.. sorry we can't sell junk food in school, so it's OK for it to be sold on a truck that sits next to a playground at a school?!?)
Like I said at the top, these are businesses plain and simple, and like any businesses today, they don't give a shit about anything about the communities they are in except making a few bucks off a buncha people who already don't have much to give.
I really wish someone would do something, but we won't. Calling the PD doesn't help because they don't come when you call right away, and he's in a van with wheels. He knows people are complaining (he knows I am) and will just drive away long before PD ever arrive. So in the end I look like a moron for even calling.
It'll continue. The only saving grace is that I work in an office part time now so I am not forced to listen to this crap every day anymore.
(Sorry this is my "I'll tell anyone who will listen" story.. so tired of this asshole)
“ A sweet friendly man who
“ A sweet friendly man who enjoys his job and meeting kids who swings into your neighborhood once a week or less”
He didn’t come to my neighborhood. We had a scary drunk who would regularly shortchange us.
How about if you picket your neighborhood menace a few times wearing camo?
He'd prob punch me
He'd probably punch me. A few years ago he decided that parking at the hydrant in front of my house was an OK thing to do. I asked him to move.. he got out of his truck and started to threaten me.
Of course because he knew he was wrong, and knew if he was cited, he would lose his license to drive that truck (business license). He quickly got in and drove off.