Sometimes the best of our plans just isn’t good enough. James Phelan, in “Howard Hughes: The Hidden Years” told the story of how Hughes demanded the same meal every day for lengthy stretches. According to his long-time aide, Gordon Margulis, he was having two scoops of Baskin-Robbins’ banana-nut ice cream with every meal. Consequently, the staff was sure to keep some on hand.
But one day, they discovered that the flavor had been discontinued, causing Hughes’ staff to panic. Someone phoned the Baskin-Robbins office in California to ask them to make up a special batch of banana-nut. They agreed to the smallest batch possible on a special order, which turned out to be 350 gallons. The staff breathed a sigh of relief when the order arrived, as they had only a few scoops left.
When the ice cream was served to Hughes the following day, he ate it as usual. Then he declared: “That’s great ice cream, but it’s time for a change. From now on, I want French vanilla.”
