 
     robot.hear emoteCountRegex, (msg) ->
         emoticon = msg.match[1]
-        count = emoticonCounts.getEmoticonCount(emoticon)
+        count = emoticonCounts.getEmoticonCountWithoutDefaultWrite(emoticon)
         msg.send "#{emoticon} = #{count}"
 
     robot.hear allRegex, (msg) ->

        if msg.message.text.startsWith('/emote')
            return

        xmpp_jid = msg.message.user.reply_to

        for input in msg.match
            result = emoticonRegex.exec(input)
            # See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/RegExp/exec#Description

        @cache.emoticonCounts[emoticon] = @cache.emoticonCounts[emoticon] || 0
        return @cache.emoticonCounts[emoticon]

    getEmoticonCountWithoutDefaultWrite: (emoticon) ->
        return @cache.emoticonCounts[emoticon] || 0

    saveEmoticonCount: (emoticon) ->
        @robot.brain.data.emoticonCounts[emoticon] = @cache.emoticonCounts[emoticon]
        @robot.brain.emit('save', @robot.brain.data)
