Gelato is Coming to Town!

Is it wrong to get so excited by this?

Yesterday, I made a quick stop at our local Piggly Wiggly. (I love them for their soft bakery cookies, their thin-sliced Angus garlic roast beef and their "lite" chocolate soy milk, not so much for their questionable mushrooms or their inedible specimens of zucchini, though...) As I parked the car, I saw a sign on the building next door that nearly made my heart stop: A gelato shop! Coming soon!

Oh, YES!!!!!

Now, I love ice cream. I really love it. I also love frozen yogurt, frozen custard, sherbet, flavored Cool Whip and even Tofutti. I'm not that picky. If it's sweet and it's frozen, I'm a fan. But gelato--the ultra-smooth, Italian variety of flavor-infused ice-creaminess--is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite.

When I was in Italy, I was known to order up a large gelato cone three times per day (at bare minimum). The chocolate-orange cone I had in Florence one summer remains a highlight of that trip, on par with my first viewing of Michelangelo's "David." I took a ten-week Italian language class for the lone purpose of learning how to order gelati (the plural of gelato) while abroad. I was that dedicated.

So, is it too presumptuous of me to ask the manager of this new shop if they'll be carrying my favorite flavors? Or, to loiter around the entrance in hopes of snagging one of the newly hired workers and pressing him/her into telling me the exact date of the Grand Opening? Or, to whip all of my friends into a frenzy of anticipation over this delightful gastronomic addition to our little city?

Huh?

I think not...