Earlier today I’m sitting in my car taking a quick lunch break when I hear a (low quality) Tetris soundtrack playing.

Just like a 3 year old reacts to hearing the Cocomelon intro theme I frantically look around and see the source of this siren call.

And that’s when I see it…

No, not a truck.

A Ford Transit van “transformed” into an ice cream dispenser.

If that sounds dodgy, catch this.

It has some fading Spiderman stickers on on the right side of the van and a worn down menu sticker on the other.

The audio quality of the speakers is so bad it sounds like a horror movie.

And the van has tinted windows.

So right off the bat it’s giving KIDNAPPER vibes.

Now I’m not worried about getting kidnapped (that would be a positive experience atp).

I just don’t know how SANITARY a VAN is.

But you already know your Trashmaster Hz has no survival instinct and NEEDS to know what this ice cream van was about.

So I approach the kidnapper van and realize I’m not the only one intrigued by this contraption.

An employee from the business next door is waiting a banana split.

And that’s when he mentions they have milkshakes.

Talk about an instant reason to fold. I’m not a big ice cream person, but MILKSHAKES?

Sign. Me. Up.

I took a slight peek inside while waiting for my turn on the salmonella express and couldn’t see a single sink...

Or cleaning supplies…

Or anything that told me the “chef” had washed their hands in the past 5 hours.

Just a fridge, some blenders, and a microwave.

This is how you know the food is either the best you’ll get or a death sentence.

And so I ordered my favorite flavor of milkshake - Cookies and Cream.

5 minutes later they hand me a container FILLED to the brim with mystery diary.

Now before I tell you if the milkshake was worth the potential system meltdown…

How did I end up going from “nah that’s dodgy” to “one Cookies and Cream salmonella bomb please!”

There was THREE factors.

And it’s these same factors that dictate YOUR (and every other human on earth) behavior as well

STRIKE 1: The song.

The Tetris theme song outside of an arcade is a red flag.

Hearing it out in the open is like an MK Ultra activation code for chronically online people.

Combine it with a RUN. DOWN. ICE. CREAM. VAN. and you have no choice but to carefully observe and make sense of it.

That’s the first element: A pattern interrupt that held my attention and focus.

STRIKE 2: Seeing the guy from the business next door go out and order something.

This immediately makes it LESS risky to approach a kidnapping hazard.

Your brain goes from “Ain’t no way the “ice cream” there is good” to “Hey, if he’s risking a week in the bathroom for some banana split I can do the same for a milkshake”

Second element: Social proof that ice cream from a van is worth it.

And the nail in the coffin? I had just finished eating and I USUALLY get dessert after lunch out of habit.

Of course, I don’t bring sugar in my work lunches. I’m trying to reduce my sugar intake.

But still, it’s in character for me to get ice cream after lunch.

And that’s the third (and arguably most powerful) strike: HABIT.

So those three factors came together to open the wallet and get something that is -as the moment of writing- making me feel ill.

And those are some of the most powerful behavior drivers:

Did I have to succumb to those behavioral triggers?

NO. At the end of the day I still chose to take that action out of enjoyment of milkshakes.

So here’s the #0 driver. This trumps every other factor (aside from focus)

Previous experience tells me that milkshakes are a rewarding experience 80% of the time. Even without knowing if that milkshake was good or not my odds are pretty good.

And humans will ALWAYS repeat self-rewarding behaviors. Even when they are destructive and actively harmful.

So if you want to avoid doing certain things -like eating dodgy diary from unsanitary vans- find your reward triggers and look for ways to make them negative.

“Okay. Whatever Hz. Thanks for ONCE AGAIN talking about psychology in a MUSIC newsletter. Was the MF MILKSHAKE GOOD?”

…

…

…

First off, you may not have said that.

Second off, I know you (my dear reader and parasocial friend) love these unhinged rambles with a semi-coherent payoff at the end.

If you don’t…

The door (unsubscribe button) is at the bottom of the email.

AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION

It was alright.

A solid 6/10. Not bad for a $10 milkshake.

It just tasted like chocolate syrup and sugar.

I just hope it doesn’t end up killing me. (EDITORS NOTE: I’m feeling worse.)

So was it a cool experience? I guess.

How many people do you know who have ordered ice cream from an unsanitary “FREE CANDY INSIDE” looking truck?

Props to the person running it though. That must be a tough grind. Something you do out of love of the game.

Which speaking of…

It’s time to talk about music! (You know, the thing you signed up for?)

Unlike this experience, today’s song isn’t NEW.

In fact it’s a it’s a 9 year old song from What So Not. I’m sending it because it’s today’s obsession.

I don’t know if its the composition or the amazing sound design

But this hits the spot.

Not too “ice cream van” friendly but hey, neither is the Tetris song and it still did the trick of getting attention.

Here are some other reasons to hear it:

Njoy!

Genre: Something from a dead genre that peaked in 2016.

Hz

P.S. If you don’t see me tomorrow you know what happened.

P.P.S After yesterday’s email I decided to train Perplexity to give me the correct music links and it DID!

Except it took it 10 mf minutes to do. Maybe tomorrow it will be better.

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