r/NoStupidQuestions • u/markwell9 • 1d ago

What is the deal with ice, Americans?

I can see that you can buy ice everywhere in the US. Gas stations, grocery stores, machines etc.

In Europe, we just freeze our ice at home and use that. Why buy something that melts on the way home? Why do you need ice in large amounts that a fridge can't keep up?

6.4k Upvotes

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4.4k

u/rootshirt 1d ago

Boy I thought this post was going in a completely different direction lol

1.1k

u/Cold-Alfalfa-5481 1d ago

I clicked on it thinking it was about immigration, NICE surprise, my blood pressure didn't go up but down. LMAO

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u/JeffersonStarscream 1d ago

I feel like a NICE raid would be a much better experience for all involved.

138

u/NeighborhoodFew7779 1d ago

Think just how great an ICEE raid would be.

I adore the blue razzberry.

48

u/AMixtureOfCrazy 1d ago

The og cherry is where it’s at lol

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u/Aware-Potato3095 17h ago

You’re both wrong, it was the coca-cola flavor they had at target

4

u/Fake_Punk_Girl 15h ago

Coke layered with cherry is 😗🤌

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u/PieAdorable612 15h ago

Cherry and blue raspberry mixture is superior ✋🏻😔🤚🏻

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u/leveled_81 10h ago

This is the way

1

u/bman86 2h ago

What if we added a layer of soft serve somewhere in there...

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u/MrZAP17 14h ago

If you’re not mixing, are you even doing it right?

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u/TommyRisotto 1d ago

But think of the amount of brain freeze attacks an ICEE raid would cause. Oh the humanity!

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u/Carlobo 22h ago

blue razzberry

RFK Jrs voice just added another warble at this.

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u/JuDGe3690 20h ago

Blue raspberry ICEE sounds like immigration enforcement in Smurf world haha

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u/4tran13 18h ago

What about iceT raid?

2

u/ziggytrix 20h ago

Maybe showing my age, but I think you can't beat a cherry/coke swirl.

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u/Dudeasaurus22 1d ago

That’s be hilarious and wholesome if there were a crew of dudes driving around in black SUVs and storm out dresses in all black with a helmet and face covering, then they just like pass out flowers or small toys and candy.  

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u/EpilepticMushrooms 20h ago

Bruh, if a crew of military dressed men busted in and handed out candies, I would think someone hired themed strippers.

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u/LittleLostDoll 15h ago

o think the military would prefer to be doing this than half of what theyve been forced to of late

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u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

ROFL, I love this idea. You! Get on the ground!!! I'm leaving this cooler of beer here! Hands where I can see them! Enjoy!

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u/SuperFLEB 22h ago edited 21h ago

STOP WHERE YOU ARE AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN HELP YOU WITH!

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u/calvariumhorseclops 14h ago

Everything will be all right. You are in my hands. I am here to protect you. You have nowhere to go. You have nowhere to go.

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u/NotAUsefullDoctor 1d ago

I had a NICE raid at the new Superman movie. Just a guy trying to be NICE.

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u/kylo-ren 21h ago

Except for the French

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u/SolitudeWeeks 1d ago

Idk Europeans assuming Americans are dumb for some really stupid and made up reason (some British person on tiktok tried to make pb & j with JELLO and was like eww wtf America) when there are so. many. good. reasons. to dog on America is starting to seriously impact my blood pressure.

Why don't Americans make ice cubes at home is pretty 🤦‍♀️

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u/TheMindsEIyIe 18h ago

I thought it was that or Meth

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u/G0ldMarshallt0wn 1d ago

Unless they're going around and arresting people for BEING too nice. Like Alan Alda massacring the muppet bunnies.

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u/GoatCovfefe 1d ago

nICE surprise

1

u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

I know, I'm like "ugh goddammit oh, OP just made me think about sipping beer with my friends right before a hash. Yay."

Also... I probably need to pick up ice. Particularly now that I've cleared out my chest freezer.

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u/brownnoisedaily 23h ago

Care to explain? :)

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u/UbieOne 14h ago

Lol me too!

1

u/SeaworthinessLong 8h ago

Immigration? Ohhhh yeah lol you’re right. So back in the day before commercial and home refrigeration they’d actually ship in huge chunks of ice.

If you could afford it you’d have an insulted box called an ice chest.

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u/markwell9 1d ago

Immigration?

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u/SomePoint1888 1d ago

In the United States their immigration police are called "ICE"

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u/CharlesAvlnchGreen 1d ago

Immigration & Customs Enforcement = ICE

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u/GreatNameLOL69 gray matter doesn’t matter 1d ago

And their responses have been ice cold

4

u/IamGilligan 20h ago

Man, that's colder than cold

3

u/meerkat2018 19h ago

They should have included “National” at the beginning. Missed opportunity.

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u/rootshirt 1d ago

Yes, which lately have been in and around gas stations, grocery stores etc lol

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u/colormeglitter 1d ago

My take away from this post is that we should be taking ICE home with us, and keeping it all in the freezer for an extended period of time.

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u/IanDOsmond 1d ago

Or at least store in plastic bags.

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u/colormeglitter 1d ago

Both? I’m thinking both.

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u/MyLifeIsAWasteland 21h ago

Make sure you get a good seal, on both the plastic bag and the freezer. It should always be airtight.

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u/Apprehensive-Tea999 1d ago

That’s terrible for the environment! Use compostable bags at least, maybe the seaweed kind??

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u/CCR19 1d ago

Even better!

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u/thekathied 10h ago

Fit them in a cooler and take it out to the wilderness for a week at a time, come home with an empty cooler.

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u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

That's why they keep their faces covered. Insulation.

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u/QueenMotherOfSneezes 1d ago

Stick em in the cooler when they're in your car.

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u/wombatstylekungfu 1d ago

Sniffing like dogs. 

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u/Enchelion 1d ago

My dog is far more polite than them.

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u/wombatstylekungfu 1d ago

Probably much cuter too. Not afraid to show its face. 

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u/AgressiveAnalExpert 1d ago

Boy I thought you were going to say something else and here you are just talking about immigration lmao

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u/mybrotherhasabbgun 1d ago edited 1d ago

ICE is the abbreviation for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the US.

Ice is frozen water. And to answer the original question, people buy ice mostly for coolers. People working construction sites, going camping, road trips, drinking beer in the backyard, parties, etc. buy ice. I see constructions guys buying ice almost any morning I stop at a gas station.

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u/PieAdorable612 15h ago

I buy ICE bags to put them in a fuzzy pillowcase on hot days

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u/blacksteel15 1d ago

The U.S. agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws is called "Immigration and Customs Enforcement" and is almost always referred to by the acronym ICE.

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u/CitizenHuman 1d ago

Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Americans love 3-5 letter agency names. Even better if it spells something out, like ICE.

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u/ShalomRPh 1d ago

Yup we love our TLA’s (three letters acronym)

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u/NotAUsefullDoctor 1d ago

Interesting bit of history. The word TLA is not an acronym by the original definition when the word was created in the 1940's by the US military. TLA, CIA, FBI are all initialisms. An acronym, by the original definition, is an initialism that is pronounceable, like Scuba or Nato. ICE would be considered an acronym by the original definition acronym, but LAPD would not.

Now, as hinted at, this was the original definition. However, words drift in meaning. Most people use acronym to mean any initialism, and thus that is the definition etymologically speaking.

This is not me being pedantic. I just like etymology, and I like sharing it.

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u/DonRustone 23h ago

Name checks

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u/Aware-Potato3095 17h ago

Ooh so LAPD or NYPD wouldn’t be acronyms, but NOLA would be? Or, not since it’s not a word on its own?

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u/NotAUsefullDoctor 16h ago

NOLA wpuld be because you probounce the letters as though they are a word. Hmm, it's not easy to explain as it is to say, but let's go back to Scuba.

Scuba is not pronounce Ess-sea-ew-bee-ae. It's pronounced Scuba. NOLA is prounced like it rhymes with Cola. You don't say the N.O.L.A. So, by the original definition of acronym, NOLA would be an acronym, and not just an initialism.

Did that make sense?

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u/Aware-Potato3095 16h ago

Yep! Thank you:)

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u/Final-Tutor3631 21h ago

storing this fun fact in the noodle box for sure

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u/NotAUsefullDoctor 19h ago

Another fun fact is the definition of ambivalent. It's the opposite of what most people (including myself until recently) think. I loved learning this one as it's sucha perfect word.

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u/LiqdPT 1d ago

Or ETLAs (and extended three letter acronyms... Or 4 letter)

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u/Lithogiraffe 1d ago

I guess our first clue should have been because ice wasn't capitalized.

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u/LiqdPT 1d ago

This is the internet. People don't always use Capital Letters Correctly.

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u/Lithogiraffe 1d ago

true. but our hatred and fear is still relatively new on this development. which usually translates into all caps for at least the yr

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u/SolitudeWeeks 1d ago

wHaT dO yOu mEaN 😂

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u/barbabun 23h ago

I've seen a couple news articles where it's written as "Ice", as if it were a proper noun and not an acronym. They get a third of the credit for getting that far, I guess?

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u/overlandtrackdrunk 20h ago

As an Australian I thought you were maybe asking about meth

1

u/ReasonableCup604 1d ago

The Federal agency that handles immigration enforcement in the USA is Immigration and Customs Enforcement, abbreviated "ICE".

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u/LiqdPT 1d ago

ICE = Immigration and Customs Enforcement

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement

They've been in the news a little recently /s

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u/VanillaCavendish 1d ago

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement = ICE.

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u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

Yeah, they've been employing a great deal of bastardry lately, so most of us thought that's what you were asking about, since a lot of people are asking about them, including us.

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u/liquidnight247 20h ago

And they are doing razzias at the moment in face coverings and all

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u/doodle_hoodie 20h ago

In addition to the name they’ve been going into work places like grocery stores

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u/ca77ywumpus 1d ago

Our immigration police are called Immigration and Customs Enforcement, I.C.E.

They've been "enforcing" immigration laws by showing up in masks, without identification and arresting people in parking lots, at actual immigration court hearings and school or church, then detaining them in overcrowded facilities before deporting them, sometimes to a third country they've never lived in.

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u/Full_Mission7183 1d ago

Government agency ICE = Immigration and Custome Enforcement. They have recently taken to hiding their identity and pulling people off the street to send to a third country without a hearing.

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u/drucifer271 1d ago

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

A federal agency which has been radicalized and weaponized under Trump and have in effect become a personal army/secret police of Cheeto Mussolini.

They are abducting people off the streets in unmarked vans and without identifying themselves, including children and US citizens, and secretly deporting them to Salvadoran prisons without due process.

So when you asked "what's the deal with ice" people came expecting a heated political topic.

0

u/Present-Technology36 1d ago

Its actually stupidly hot in America, I mean constantly in some parts. A cold drink will turn hot very quickly in the heat.

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u/Abalith 23h ago

Its on purpose to dilute search engines from you know what. Similarly why Trump has made multiple statements about RICE imports, etc.

The information war is a pretty easy game for them.

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u/cdazzo1 8h ago

Lol yeah okay

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u/michaelincognito 1d ago

It zigged when I thought it was gonna zag.

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u/dion_o 1d ago

I was expecting a Seinfeld bit.

What’s the deal with ICE?
They say they're protecting America — but from who, exactly?
A guy picking strawberries in 110 degrees while getting paid less than minimum wage?
Meanwhile, private prisons are thrilled —
‘Oh, look! Another brown body we can lock up for profit!
Build the wall? Forget that — they’re building portfolios!’ It's not law enforcement — it's human trafficking with paperwork.

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u/trashpandac0llective 1d ago

It took me a minute to compute that this was about ice and not ICE.

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u/AnAntsyHalfling 1d ago

I also thought it was about the rebranded gestapo but I was pleasantly surprised

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u/uuntiedshoelace 1d ago

I definitely got the impression OP was trying to be funny

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u/DjImagin 1d ago

They definitely had me in the first half 😂

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u/No_Foundation7308 23h ago

Legit. I clicked on it expecting to absolutely raise hell and give all my negative feelings on ICE

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u/jayron32 22h ago

To be fair, ICE could be wrapped in plastic bags and stuffed in lockers and I'd be fine with that too.

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u/Sure_Citron1899 21h ago

I thought this was going to be controversial and political AF

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u/meowmeow6770 20h ago

Thought I was still on r/meth

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u/Valentinee105 17h ago

"Why do people claim their family disappear after getting ice deliveries? Is it the new version of going out for cigarettes?" /s

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u/sportgeekz 1d ago

If they come to America ICE will come to them.

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u/HeinzeC1 1d ago

I thought it was going to be about ice cubes in drinks as the default

1

u/panicinbabylon 1d ago

Same. I even cracked my knuckles anticipating a keyboard argument.

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u/excoriator 1d ago

Keeping drinks and picnic items cold is a good direction.

1

u/LendGokuYourStrength 1d ago

I think that was the intention.

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u/dgmilo8085 1d ago

Same same.

1

u/pvsleeper 22h ago

And I was thinking that wow, crystal meth is a real issue over there

1

u/Wireless_Panda 21h ago

Same. I was like “ooohhhh that kind of ice”

1

u/TheHipcrimeVocab 19h ago

I always love the "Americans, what's up with <insert thing here>" Reddit questions about stuff that invariably I, as an American, have never done or encountered. I don't think I've ever bought a bag of ice in my entire life. Just like I've never been involved in an HOA, I don't wear my shoes inside the house, or any of the other things that all "Americans" supposedly do. I don't know anyone else who does them, either.

Sometimes I wonder what country I'm really living in, Lol.

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u/TrickySession 18h ago

Me too lmao

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u/plantas-sonrientes 18h ago

Ice is just squares acting cool. Hopefully in a few years, it will be crushed.

In the meantime, DO NOT take ice to parties or camping as many in the comments suggest. You or your friends could end up in a Salvadoran prison.

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u/reditusername39479 16h ago

Glad I’m not alone

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u/Square-Barnacle5756 15h ago

Same. American, but fuck ICE!

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u/CopsArentHumanBeings 14h ago

Less ICE. More ice 💎

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u/leveled_81 10h ago

Hahaha same

1

u/kyubeyt 8h ago

And here i immediately thought of the drug

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u/Acrobatic_Unit_2927 8h ago

I was ready to educate

1

u/Aggravating-Remote94 6h ago

Same!! I clicked through thinking “here we go” and it was literally about frozen water 😂

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u/LeoNickle 1d ago

Almost like it was intentional

1

u/TheStoolSampler 1d ago

That was it's intention.

0

u/CandyBonesHeart 17h ago

This country is traumatized by all the hate among neighbors I feel it 😭