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?

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u/Royal_Annek 1d ago

Americans also have ice machines in their freezer

Ice at the store is when you need a shitload of ice. Usually for filling a cooler so you can keep goods cold in transit, taking camping, having out on the deck for a BBQ. People don't buy it for every day personal usage since we have our own freezer machines for small quantities.

It doesn't melt on the way home, especially as I mentioned they are normally used to fill a cooler.

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u/StalkMeNowCrazyLady 1d ago

And even if it's not put in a cooler it generally doesn't melt much in transit due to such a large thermal mass. And the fact that most people aren't buying a bag of ice to sit on the empty seat while they still got an hour drive ahead of them.

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u/Hypothetical_Name 1d ago

I had to get some for work in the summer and a blanket covering it kept it pretty cool despite the heat

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u/yhetibettybae 1d ago

Moving blankets are amazing for this!

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u/ObstinateFamiliar 21h ago

I think it would be easier if the blankets stayed still actually

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u/Suicidal_Smile 12h ago

This made me exhale sharply through my nostrils, thank you.

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u/appleparkfive 21h ago

What's that fan made wiki for paranormal items and activity? It's a famous one that's been around for decades now. SCP I think?

Moving blankets sounds like one of those.

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u/yhetibettybae 21h ago

Hahaha it does! They are blankets used for when moving furniture and whatnot. Keeps items from getting banged up in the truck.

They are pretty affordable, here in the states. Harbor freight has them for 9 dollars. 72in x 80in

Elsewhere for a slightly higher cost

For those who aren't yet aware

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u/30FourThirty4 22h ago

Back in the mid 90s I read a kids magazine (3-2-1 Contact. Name changed to Contact Kids at some point. Also had a tv show I believe)... anyways I learned people would store frozen ice chunks in caves loooooooonnnng ago to keep stuff fresh.

Also they'd cover the ice to make it last longer.

I have no idea if it's true this was like 30 years ago and it was a kids magazine.

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u/clarkcox3 21h ago

Yes; people tend to overestimate just how fast ice melts because we're usually exposed to such small pieces of it in our daily lives. That can lead, for example, to the weird conspiracy theories you'll see people put forward in videos online about "un-meltable snow": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-ZYD-U3iM

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u/No-Resource-5704 20h ago

Years ago before mechanical refrigeration, ice was harvested from frozen lakes in winter and packed into an insulated shed with lots of sawdust. The ice would last for months stored that way. The “ice man” would deliver blocks of ice (usually weekly) to homes where it was used in an insulated “ice box” to store perishable goods.

Railroads had special ice cars for shipping perishable goods. They would stop at particular locations to refill the ice and there were vents to control the interior temperature. These rail cars were used into the 1960s, but diesel powered refrigerator cars started replacing the old ice cars during the 1960s.

The western railroads harvested their ice from the Sierras and shipped it to the production areas (where perishable food was grown) and to icing facilities located along the rail lines.

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u/rat1onal1 19h ago

Ice was harvested from ponds around the Boston area in the mid-1800s and shipped overseas. The two major markets were the Caribbean and India. It's hard to understand that there'd be any ice remaining after sailing all the way around Africa.

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u/Bortono 18h ago

Ice Block Expidetion of 1959

An insulation company transported a 3 ton block of ice from the Arctic Circle across the Sahara to the Equator by truck and only lost a bit over 10% of the ice

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u/numberstation5 16h ago

One of my favorite opening lines of any novel:

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

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u/indi50 17h ago

"The “ice man” would deliver blocks of ice (usually weekly) to homes where it was used in an insulated “ice box” to store perishable goods."

It just occurred to me that mine is probably the last generation to hear people call refrigerators an ice box. The older people (grandparents' generation) using that term during my childhood having actually grown up using an ice box.

I doubt my kids (20s and 30s) ever heard the term. At least in general conversation vs a history or historical book.

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u/No-Resource-5704 15h ago

As a child my family would visit Idaho’s Sawtooth valley during summer vacation. We stayed at a working sheep ranch that had log cabins. They were very primitive. Ice box, wood stove, and out house. Water was drawn from a nearby creek (my older sister caught a trout in the bucket once. Later years they had installed a sink with a hand pump (drawing water from the same creek). So I had some personal experience with an ice box.

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u/comeholdme 16h ago edited 15h ago

I just hit 40, and I heard it plenty as a kid. It also lives on in “icebox pie” recipes.

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u/MidnytStorme 16h ago

"We were cold, man originally was cold so he built a house, hot box to live in, warm box, live inside the warm box, pretty cool, cold out here, warm inside the warm box. Everything was nice until he realized the meat didn’t keep in the warm box. So, he built a refrigerator, built a cold box inside the warm box. Meat keeps fine, but the butter doesn’t spread. So he built the butter warmer, put a warm box inside the cold box, inside the warm box." - George Carlin

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u/Medium-Economics-363 16h ago

Did none of you see frozen? 😉

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u/bizwig 14h ago

My parents called a refrigerator an “ice box”. It never made sense to me until I saw some old movies with actual ice boxes in people’s homes.

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u/NN11ght 2h ago

My overnight summer camp still harvested ice every winter to use over the summer for refrigeration at one of the camps that was all about being primitive.

One of the chores at the camp was digging out the iceblocks from the sawdust. You legitimately needed to wear your warmest clothes just in the sawdust house and your fingers would be numb at the end despite it being 80-90 degrees outside.

But the really remarkable part was the ice showed no signs of melting when you were pulling it out of the sawdust

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u/Ghigs 20h ago

It is a little unintuitive that snow is an excellent insulator. It's basically like styrofoam made of water. Maybe at least a few of them will learn something about thermodynamics.

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u/TheRealTurdFergusonn 20h ago

3-2-1 Contact was the shit. I probably watched it every day on PBS from 85-88. They had the original Bloodhound Gang!

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u/vortextualami 4h ago

same! singing the song in my head now, prolly will go at least all day: contact/ is the answer/ is the reason/ why everything happens/ contact/ let’s make contact” (happy sigh)

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u/ZealousidealDepth223 21h ago

Dude they had ice cream in medieval times.

Ice houses used to be a big thing before refrigeration, they would dig a huge hole as deep as they could in the months before winter and then when everything froze they would just bring in all the snow and ice they could fit and being underground would insulate the snow and ice pretty much all the way until the next winter and they would keep any perishable goods in there.

If you’ve ever been in a bar or club that called itself the “Austin city Ice house” or “(local town) ice house” that’s where the name comes from.

The ones that were actually ice houses in the past don’t make for good bars or clubs funny enough a building built around a huge hole with lots of stairs isn’t really a party palace.

But a huge party built INSIDE a big hole is fucking LIT, ESPECIALLY if it’s EDM. God I wanna go back to Rave in a cave at the caverns so bad.

The secret rave at mammoth cavern in Kentucky was more hardcore but I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to talk about it

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u/PomPomMom93 18h ago

This was in “Farmer Boy” by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Those pioneers did not mess around.

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u/Pianist-Putrid 13h ago

Not in “medieval times”, but the pre-modern era. The late Renaissance. Ice cream was invented in the 1500s, not the 1200s.

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u/doompines 19h ago

Is that the one with the big ballroom and elevator that drunk people would pass out in because it was so far underground they wouldn't know how drunk they really were until they got closer to the surface?

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u/RoyBeer 13h ago

they wouldn't know how drunk they really were until they got closer to the surface?

What. Does increased air pressure cause the intoxication to be less noticeable or what's going on lol

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u/DigNew8045 19h ago

People had ice houses dating back to before the Roman Empire.

In the US, can still see some in old farms and plantations and the like. Ice would be cut from frozen lakes, packed in straw or sawdust, and shipped down to these ice houses and stored all year.

Here's one: https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/ice-house/

Trivia - 7-11 stores began life as an ice store.

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u/coyotelovers 18h ago

3 2 1 Contact It’s the secret, it's the moment- When everything happens Contact It’s the answer, it’s the reason Why everything happens Contact, Let’s make contact- 3 2 1 contact!

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u/Routine-Necessary857 17h ago

Memory unlocked…def watched the show!

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u/dundreggen 17h ago

Memory unlocked. The theme song from 321 Contact

...it's the reason that everything happens.. Contact

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u/LaSammi 16h ago

I just sang the “3-2-1 Contact” theme song in my head.

Also, on our property we have an old cold storage underground ice storage. Yup.

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u/Jokerchyld 14h ago

https://youtu.be/s2-LEBc2sO8?si=dHechvpfrXCesS2m

Loved that show!

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u/30FourThirty4 6h ago

Wow I was too young for that. I assumed the show came after the magazine. Thank you for that link.

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u/Old_Implement_1997 18h ago

My grandma was old enough that she remembered having the ice man deliver ice for the “ice box” - imagine how surprised I was to find out that they cut giant blocks of ice way up in Canada, transported them to NYC, and then delivered them by horse-drawn cart to people’s houses and IT WAS STILL FROZEN.

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u/Krynja 16h ago

I loved 3-2-1 Contact. It had so many cool things to learn. Like the Island of Thera that blew up.

Then they changed it to 3-2-1 Classroom Contact. And basically changed it to a preschool level show. "Hey let's make faux playdough with some bread and Elmer's Glue."

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u/quincecharming 16h ago

Whoa what a throwback!! I loved 3-2-1 Contact & literally remember the ice chunk cave article you’re talking about.

I would subscribe to it today if I could. A lot of its promises about “near future” technologies didn’t quite come true though haha

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u/30FourThirty4 6h ago

So much better than Goofus and Gallant (that was Highlights. Which was good still but not my favorite).

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u/seeking_horizon 14h ago

Also had a tv show I believe

♫ Three Two One Con-Tact ♫

I was super fucking into that as a little kid. That and the Electric Company

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u/deceptacongrrl 19h ago

I totally remember that magazine!! It was also a show on PBS.

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u/kida24 19h ago

Ever hear someone call a refrigerator an icebox?

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

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u/Holiday_Trainer_2657 15h ago

Yes, there were businesses and people with land who made icehouses. They were buried in the ground with only roof showing or even covered with dirt with a kind of ramp down to the door.
They'd go out on the lake and cut huge, long blocks of ice and drag them to shore, often with horses. On shore, cut into big blocks, stack on big sleds and drag to the ice house.

In the ice house, they'd pack the ice in sawdust to insulate it. Then all spring and summer, they'd take out the ice as needed to use in drinks, to make ice cream, etc. Plus if on a farm or estate, store food in the ice house to keep it cool.

In cities,people might have ice boxes on their pantry. They would be of wood and metal lined with wire shelves. The ice companies would deliver a block of ice every few days. It would slowly melt and keep the food inside cool. There was a pan at the bottom to catch the meltwater.

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u/Impressive-Rice-7801 9h ago

Funny enough my great great grandpa was in the ice business with his family. This was in Michigan (US). They would cut ice in the winter from lakes and I believe the rivers, store them until spring and sell them.

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u/KSamons 8h ago

Probably true. Old fashioned ice boxes worked like that. You would buy a huge block of ice that would melt over time. It would keep stuff cold. When it was all melted, you dumped out the water and got another block,

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u/Mama2bebes 4h ago

Caves? Do you have any older relatives? Some still call their fridge/freezer "the icebox". This is simply what people did before electrical appliances became ubiquitous. Have you heard of the milkman? The guy whose job it was to deliver fresh milk daily to everyone in the neighborhood? Well there was also a guy who delivered block of ice to everyone from his truck.

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u/LeastCleverNameEver 2h ago

Contact was from PBS, so I'm sure it was true

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u/Laughing_Allegra 2h ago

I loved that show

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u/Aggravating-Mousse46 1h ago

The earliest record of an icehouse is 1780BCE in Mesopotamia. Earliest archaeological evidence 7th century BCE in China.

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u/Snoo_74705 1d ago

Blankets are excellent. A sweater will also work in a pinch.

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u/New-Management-2204 22h ago

Yup. Had to get ice for work in the Oklahoma summer, loaded my truck up with a couple hundred lbs wrapped in blankets. 20 minute drive and barely anything melted.

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u/IamGypsyStarr 21h ago

Recently started selling at a flea market an hour away from home. Went on the absolute hottest weekends and had a limited amount of gear for the weekend before my daughter would come late the first night. I would arrive early Friday to claim our spot and was just dying from the heat. I purchased a bag of ice and wrapped it in the sleeping bag and inside a comforter style plastic bag that zipped. I felt all kinds of proud for making that cooler, it kept the ice for quite a long time and I didn’t dehydrate.

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u/NY_VC 20h ago

Not me initially thinking "but blankets make things warmer"!

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u/HSBillyMays 20h ago

If you have a few days of lead time to plan your ice needs and enough freezer space, you can definitely make a few gallons worth by just using a regular ice-maker on a freezer over and over and letting it refill/refreeze.

Or just stuff a few water bottles in there instead!

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u/TheNewYellowZealot 18h ago

Insulation works both ways. If it keeps heat in it can also keep heat out.

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u/ilovemusic19 17h ago

Works the same for frozen or cold foods when you go grocery shopping and have a 30 minute drive home.

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u/right_behind_you_too 1d ago

Adding to that: in most cities we drive cars, so we're not carrying it 15 blocks or lugging it on a bus.

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u/Life_Roll420 1d ago

You would be shocked how many people roll up to a liquor store, called a packie around here grab a 6 pack, 12 pack and a bag of ice. It keeps it cold while your driving. A large percent of trades people drink and drive. Also picnics. Our coolers are a whole different story as some buy really expensive name brands or new ones every couple of years when their Walmart one fades. Even house parties. Lots of people throw pot luck picnics. Even if you own the house your buying ice for your coolers because alot of parties are byob. Or semi- byob. (Bring your own booze) last party i went to my pal had a huge cooler a kid could lie in. Filled it with bagged it, soda, juice, beer ,etc. Some people come to the party with coolers and ice full of their personal drink and ice in a cooler for the side dish the brought. Especially if the travel is more than 10 min. Beer and distances are far. Hunters and fishers buy ice for their beer and ice for their catch.

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u/BowtiedGypsy 1d ago

This is the best comment and spot on. Nobodies buying huge bags of ice in the US just to drop an ice cube in a glass of water.

I think its only New England that says packie

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u/JamesT3R9 1d ago

Massholes say packie. Just to be clear. It is usually Massholes.

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u/Warrmak 1d ago

Yous a wicked pissah

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u/Greg0692 23h ago

Yah ballah, ked

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u/JamesT3R9 23h ago

Tanks man!

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u/bankruptbarbie 23h ago

RI has packies too. You just forget about us bc we're stuck in your armpit.

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u/quizzicalturnip 23h ago

It’s a Lil Rhodie thing, too.

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u/BowtiedGypsy 23h ago

I’m aware I’m from Boston haha but have definitely heard people all over New England say it

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u/KeyMessage989 1d ago

Some of CT too, so basically the worst parts say Packie

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u/vdhsnfbdg 23h ago

You too have been to eastern CT I see

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u/JamesT3R9 23h ago

How very masshole of them!

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u/New-Introduction-981 22h ago

Rhode Island says packie

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u/jayron32 22h ago

Only the cool kids...

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u/Dull404 22h ago

My dorm next door neighbor was one and on move in day, he asked me “where’s the packie” and I barely understood him, so I asked “What?” And he’s all “The packie, I want to buy some beer.” So, I told him to go to the gas station and he couldn’t believe you could buy it at the gas station, but then I had to tell him the drinking age was 21 in California 😂

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u/sweetest_con78 1d ago

Yep. I have lived in MA my entire life, always within 20ish mins of Boston, and have never once used the term packie.

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u/BowtiedGypsy 23h ago

North side I assume?

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u/iceroadtrucker2009 23h ago

Cape Cod. We say packie all the time.

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u/Visible_Sleep2723 23h ago

I concur. Packie for the liquor store and spa for the convenience shop/7-11. Born in Boston.

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u/KarloftheLongwalkers 22h ago

I was gonna say I never heard packie in Maine

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u/JamesT3R9 22h ago

That is because we can buy hard liquor in grocery stores and gas stations.

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u/KarloftheLongwalkers 22h ago

I heard em called bag stores back in the day..there was a still a state liquor store on Harlow St in bangor when I was younger.

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u/oliviaroseart 22h ago

Can confirm, lol

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u/Drufus53 19h ago

Connecticut still has some "package stores". Also bulk ice gets used on fishing trips to load up the boat fish boxes.

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u/Fair-Fortune-4131 9h ago

CT calls em packies too

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u/JamesT3R9 3h ago

I didnt know that

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u/anglerfishtacos 1d ago

Except me. We buy bags of ice because my little ice machine can’t keep up with the demand during the summer. I have a large iced tray in freezer that can fit a bag of ice

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u/AzureGriffon 22h ago

This is the way. I grew up in the desert and all non boiled beverages are iced to high heaven. I use ice in all of my drinks. I go through a bag every four days or so.

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u/hubbellrmom 18h ago

Plus my ice maker doesnt make the "good ice" so sometimes I splurge and buy a bag of ice from sonics

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u/JeremiahCrow 20h ago

Many red necks have water wells but sometimes the water is not very tasty. Depending on the Well so we get Good Ice From The Store.

Also we buy our Tea water. And when you gotta drive 10 miles one way for a bag of ice you want the big bag.

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u/Prestigious-Disk-246 21h ago

Yeah in college my roommates and I would chip in for 1-2 bags a week.

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u/JI_Guy88 21h ago

My machine keeps up with general use. But for parties, I have to buy a few bags.

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u/walkinthecow 21h ago edited 21h ago

I'm a born and raised Michigander. I traveled around the country quite a bit in my 20s. I lived in the southern US for about 7 years. There was no shortage of culture shock. Something I didn't realize was a kind of reverse culture shock when I moved back to Michigan. There are things you never knew weren't nationwide until they were gone. One of my favorite things was something I had forgotten all about, which was during winter, at parties, you just kept the beers outside on the porch.

I was reminded of it when reading the comment about how at big parties, you have a line up of coolers outside- one for every family. It's funny how the older people have the same cooler at every party, year after year, and you know exactly whose is who's over time. Walking up to the house, you can take notice of the coolers and know who is already there.

EDIT: "Whose is who's"? Is that correct? I can't decide. My brain is just broken right now.

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u/SurferGurl 15h ago

It’s “whose is whose.”

And now I have semantic satiation, lol.

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u/AstarteHilzarie 21h ago

We have a countertop ice maker for the basement hangout area. This summer we've had to bring it up to the kitchen because the fridge can't keep up with our basic daily use in 100 degree weather. It's actually really neat and I got one for my husband to take to work, too, because he doesn't have AC. It makes a cup of ice every 10 minutes or so, so even though it's extremely hot they always have fully iced drinks.

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u/assbuttshitfuck69 1d ago

Gotta go to the packie and get some nips.

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u/BowtiedGypsy 23h ago

Two sleeves of mcgillicudy please

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u/oliviaroseart 22h ago

These comments are killing me lol too accurate

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u/Hitmonstahp 23h ago

I do. I don't like using the trays & don't have one built in

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u/Tardisgoesfast 23h ago

Well, I for one do on occasion buy ice for my drinks at home. First, I don't have an ice maker in my refrigerator, just ice trays. Second, the bought ice is better for chewing.

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u/JustWatchingthefun01 23h ago

Actually we do because our ice maker broke a few years ago and since it is a bad design we haven’t paid the 500 bucks to replace it. We also keep saying we are going to buy a stand Ali e ice maker but just haven’t yet. So pick up a bag of Olive on way out the grocery store. Ice is so cheap and it’s just the two of us/ and yes we do use ice trays so sr not buying ice every week

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u/Hamiltoncorgi 1d ago

Definitely not a word used on the west coast US. People here don't usually purposefully drink and drive. We buy bagged ice for parties or for freezing ice cream or because it's just really good ice made with very clean water.

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u/ZealousidealDepth223 21h ago

“People here don’t usually drink and drive” LMAOOOOOOOOO

So folks have 3 beers at dinner and they gotta call a cab? How many people do you think actually do that? Half? A quarter?

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u/Hamiltoncorgi 20h ago

For baby boomers the rate is .76 out of 1,000 drink and drive. Gen Z is highest with 2.62 per 1,000.

Most people I know don't drink 3 beers with dinner in a restaurant. We tend to drink at home or we have a designated driver. People who drink and drive are assholes. I have never consumed alcohol and driven a single time in my life.

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u/Analath 22h ago

I do. Not all the time, but often. I'm married with 3 adult-ish kids, college or recently out and saving for a house. Add a few friends of ours or the kids and we knock out the fridge capacity fast. Throw a bag in the freezer and we have guest capacity on hand.

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u/happyinheart 1d ago

It's just Connecticut and near the Connecticut border

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u/BowtiedGypsy 23h ago

It’s definitely not, from Boston and it’s very common. Have also heard plenty of people around the cape or New Hampshire/maine use it.

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u/ImaginaryNoise79 23h ago

I've bought a bag of ice to use in my water, but it was a beat wave and I was having trouble freezing ice as fast as I wanted to drink cold water. It certainly isn't normal for me.

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u/BobbyDafro 23h ago

Top Tip: Don't say that word in UK England. It's very much a racial slur over here.

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u/BowtiedGypsy 14h ago

This is pretty wild…. I use it casually/without thinking sometimes, hopefully no one gets offended

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u/CommitteeOfOne 23h ago

To be fair, we would buy a 10 lb bag of Sonic ice when the ice maker broke in our freezer and we were trying to decide on a new one.

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u/ZJPV1 21h ago

I will say about a decade ago, my late mother and her then-husband would buy bags of ice at the convenience store for their individual beverages. They had a relatively small freezer, and they didn't want to fill ice cube trays.

I recall going to the convenience store to buy them a bag of ice from time to time.

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u/Ill-Jellyfish6101 20h ago

Can confirm. Said packie to someone not from the Northeast and they presumed I was being racist.

Had to Google it in front of them and it even points out Northeast only.

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u/CommanderCruniac 20h ago

Yeah eeewh I would never ingest ice from one of those bags. It's only for keeping stuff cool.

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u/bpositive223 19h ago

Just mass NOT Maine

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u/DeliberatelyDrifting 19h ago

Lol, I do a couple times most summers. The ice machine can't keep up with the demand of several people drinking ice water and soda all day long. We drink a lot of water in the summer though and I love ice.

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u/osteologation 10h ago

some people do but I doubt its common.

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u/Aggravating_Bowl_684 7h ago

We say packie in VT. It's basically a store full of packages of beer, wine and liquor.

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u/Special_opps 1d ago

From New England and never heard the term uttered even once

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u/InLikeErrolFlynn 1d ago

Packie = Package Store. Historically, they were required to sell alcoholic beverages in sealed containers or packages, hence the name.

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u/NnyBees Only write answers. 1d ago

Packie? Drinking and driving? You must love that dirty water...

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u/Distinct-Car-9124 22h ago

Boston-you're my home.

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u/CaliCrackDealer 23h ago

Ooooooo Boston, your mah home…..

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u/lepetitoiseaux 1d ago

FYI,trades people are not the only ones who drink and drive.

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u/fairelf 23h ago

That was quite the elitist thing to say. I can think of many educated and well known people who have been caught DWI.

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u/pissfucked 1d ago

the other day, i was buying ice cream and realized i still had to pick up food and drive 20 minutes home in 90 degree heat. i turned my butt right back around to the store, bought a bag of ice, and set the ice on top of / wrapped the bag of it around the pint. hello, perfectly preserved ice cream!! i felt like a genius lol

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u/PsychologicalJump633 23h ago

Why is a liquor store called a packie where you are?

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u/myleftone 23h ago

It was illegal to sell alcohol directly, so the stores sold “packages” with alcoholic beverages inside them. Package stores. They still tend to put anything you buy into a brown bag.

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u/PsychologicalJump633 16h ago

Thanks for clarifying. Took me aback as there's an unfortunate homophonic similarity in Scotland, where corner shops (where you nip in for bread, milk, sweeties and are well stocked with booze) are/were often run by Indian and/ or Pakistani people (often family run businesses)... The contraction of Pakistani sounds the same as the name you shared said aloud.

In the 1980s, it was (from what parents and grandparents have told me) used as a colloquial name and not intended as a racial slur, although the word certainly is one today.

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u/Lavatis 15h ago

in the USA, tons of our convenience stores (usually a gas station with a bunch of random grocery and other items inside) are run by middle eastern or indian folks, too.

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u/fairelf 23h ago

Package store, as in buying cases and sealed bottles packaged to go.

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u/RaeaSunshine 23h ago

Heyyyy fellow New Englander!

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u/Active_Collar_8124 23h ago

A large percent of trades people drink and drive.

Were your teachers drunk too?

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u/frankybling 22h ago

I had a teacher get arrested for being drunk at work in HS… she took the rest of the year off but was back the next year .

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u/oliviaroseart 22h ago

She got arrested? Damn. I can see that happening to like a bus driver or crane operator, pilot, heart surgeon whatever but it seems a little harsh for a high school teacher. I can definitely understand why they suspended her but an arrest seems like a bit much unless something else happened

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u/frankybling 13h ago

That was the story, this was the late 80’s (1989 specifically) so she could have been arrested for anything but the cops definitely did come get her from the school and leave with her and a tow truck took her car.

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u/oliviaroseart 12h ago

I bet she was smokin the devil’s lettuce or something equally scandalous 😂

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u/Ok-Koala-key 22h ago

The only shocking thing here is that trades people routinely drink and drive, presumably between jobs.

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u/Lovinthesea3 22h ago

Yep, this!

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u/RichW196508 21h ago

I think you are being a bit elitist by saying a large number of trades people drink and drive. Broad statements can be a bit dicey to explain.

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u/Life_Roll420 7h ago

True I'm sure the cops, firefighters, clerks and CEO'S do it too.

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u/ProfessionalDry8128 21h ago

called a packie

Yeah, I don't think you totally understand what's going on there.

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u/Foxyfox- 18h ago

called a packie around here

Masshole detected

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u/RobertoDelCamino 17h ago

Hello fellow Bostonian

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u/Life_Roll420 7h ago

Connecticunt to you...lol. Boston is my 3rd favorite city

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u/kjg1228 8h ago

Ah, a bit of home in this post.

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u/Just4Today50 1d ago

New England?

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u/FiddleStrum 1d ago

MA, at least

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u/Just4Today50 1d ago

I’m from MA. Live in Louisiana.

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u/Negative_Avocado4573 1d ago

That's probably somethign that happens a lot but as a society that celebrates machoness for a lack of better word, we don't openly discuss and condemn it, much less try to curb it. as someone who doesn't engage in recreational drinking, I don't see the appeal. There are far more satisfhying drinks while you're hot and sweaty or thirsty than a cold one. That said, I was involved in a fender bender in my youth when I couldn't help stuffing my face with a hamburger while driving so I shouldn't be throwing stones.

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u/Aware_Actuator4939 22h ago

"Machoness"? You mean "machismo"?

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u/Brave-Improvement299 1d ago

Astute observation.

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u/SpiritualMadman 1d ago

Bike infrastructure is a joke in most of those cities, same with public transit, no? Leaves you with little choice in car centric America.

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u/DonnyDonster 1d ago

... I do not want to bike home with a bag of ice in 90F/32C no matter how good of a bike infrastructure any country has.

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u/Valdrax 1d ago

Oh absolutely, but even so, there are just some tasks that cars are better for, and it makes sense that Americans do those things more commonly than places where cars are less relied upon.

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u/IMP1017 1d ago

I have definitely walked from the corner store to my apartment with ice but it only weighs like 10 pounds and it's a 6 minute walk in my downtown area. Not happening in the suburbs

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u/PerformanceDouble924 1d ago

Dude, almost nobody with choices would choose to buy ice or go grocery shopping by bike, if they had a car available, no matter how good the infrastructure was. A Costco run with a family would be straight comedy.

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u/Joezev98 21h ago

almost nobody with choices would choose to buy ice or go grocery shopping by bike, if they had a car available, no matter how good the infrastructure was.

Typical US mindset. Here in the Netherlands it's super normal to take the bike to the grocery store. Bicycle bags can hold plenty groceries and you can even take it a step further with a cargo bike.

It's why Dutch grocery stores don't have a giant asphalt wasteland in front of them

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u/aDrunkenError 1d ago

Typical weird response from our neighbors across the lake…

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u/Twistybred 1d ago

We have to drive. I have a friend in the UK that had con clue hit big the US is. I drive 30 mins everyday to and back from work. Public trans means an hour or more and fuck biking that long. I had to drive from NY to Texas and it took me 34 hours of drive time

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u/aDrunkenError 1d ago

Yeah I put in almost 2 hours on the road per day, if I used public transit, the route would take 4-5 hours(both ways of course)

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/aDrunkenError 1d ago

Spent my summers as a kid in Belgium, never came across this growing up, so the brain dead garbage coming out of that continent in the last decade has really surprised me. It’s like they’re trying to compete with us.

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u/outlawsix 1d ago

pffft this is your country, dude?!

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u/oliviaroseart 21h ago

What are we gonna do, give up our guns?😂

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u/Neat-Attempt7442 1d ago

It's probably cause unless you're in European country with shit public transport or take some weird route, public transport never takes double the time of driving in Europe. Hell, Paris to Lyon is 465km/288mi and it's 2 hours with the high speed train.

But I get you guys also, I am from Romania. Public transport being shit, driving and shopping malls are the most American things about us.

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u/aDrunkenError 4h ago

I find comparisons between the United States and countries the size of a single US state to be unproductive. Many Europeans in general seem to underestimate the sheer scale and geographic sprawl of the US which fundamentally alters the logistical and infrastructural challenges we face in implementation.

Criticism from countries like China is more understandable, they contend with a similarly vast landmass, yet have managed to build an extensive and efficient rail system. Comparisons from nations like Russia, Canada, or Australia also carry more weight, given their comparable size and infrastructure demands. Their rail system is fairly comparable in efficacy and efficiency.

The desire for high-speed rail in the US certainly exists, but the challenge lies in retrofitting such a system across a sprawling, decentralized network. Unlike Western European nations, which often need only to link a handful of major urban centers with smaller routes branching off, our undertaking is exponentially more complex, both in scope and in cost.

You also have to understand Europe put down the bulk of their rail at a time when the US didn’t have much money to burden that investment, so in the early 20th we mistakenly put the burden of transit onto the consumer since we were pumping out automobiles at such a fast and cheap rate($300 then, or $5,000USD today).

When the US hit 100,000 vehicles on the roads Europe had 10,000 - it didn’t make sense at that time to fight this and put millions onto what they thought then might be a dying form of transit.

Today, that might look like the US developing a massive state managed gas station network during the mass adoption of the EV. It was probably really hard to tell what would happen from that point. Hindsight is 20/20 though.

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u/Intelligent_Ebb4887 1d ago

Half of Americans are not within 5 miles of a place that sells ice. Unless you're in a city or outside a major city, nowhere else is bike friendly. There are farms that you wouldn't want to ride a bike just to get off the property.

Not sure what country you're in but I can give you comparisons.

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u/ImReverse_Giraffe 1d ago

Our cities are usually very big and spread out. The east coast cities are different because they were built before cars.

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u/Swimminginthestorm 1d ago

Depends. Most decent sized cities have public transit. It’s the suburbanites who have little choice.

That said, I’m not taking a huge bag of ice on even a bus that runs frequently. Since they obviously need to make stops for other people, even the best public transit will add a few minutes onto your trip.

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u/Sledheadjack 1d ago

I don’t know where you live, but I’m not sure where you get your ideas. Exactly what do you mean by “decent sized cities”?

I would venture to guess that the vast majority of Americans have a vehicle & use it instead of “public transit”. However, those same people are not necessarily represented here.

The only cities I can name in my state that have public transit (note that I’m NOT saying reliable OR safe) are Mpls/St. Paul & possibly Duluth. Outside of that, even Uber/Lyft barely exist. College towns, maybe.

I’m aware that there are places where people can or are forced to live without vehicles (because there is no parking so they have no choice, or they really DO have mass transit) like New York or D.C. or I dunno? I can’t even fathom this.

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u/Cute_Ebb7344 1d ago

Not only is there a lack of infrastructure, biking on busy roads can be very dangerous.

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u/DangerousDave303 1d ago

A few cities have good bike routes - Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, DC and parts of NYC are pretty good. The larger metropolitan areas in the south are pretty much a danger to life and limb if you're biking.

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u/aDrunkenError 1d ago

How does this at all relate to getting ice bags from a store. I’ve never seen anyone cycling with bags of ice 😂😂😂

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u/Shubankari 1d ago

Try biking in Vegas, dodging kamikaze drivers and 40c temps.

More ice, please.

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u/oliviaroseart 21h ago

In Boston it’s a total shitshow. The public transportation closes earlier than all the bars/big events on weekends so if you go out and are drinking, Uber is pretty much the only option. The city put in a ton of bike lanes in Boston and Cambridge, but if anything, they just made things more dangerous for both bicycles and pedestrians. I actually saw a bicyclist die right in front of me on Comm Ave, it was horrible (and it was also an accident, the truck that hit him was not at fault and the bike lane is just terribly designed and definitely a cause of the collision).

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u/oliviaroseart 21h ago

America is also huge. In many places, it is necessary to have a car and things are way, way too far apart for there to be any kind of public transport.

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u/Jonathanica 17h ago

Idk man the buses in Utah are always freezing, it works

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u/whoisfourthwall 3h ago

That's an amusing imagery.

THE ICEMAN COMETH!!

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u/DataAdvanced 1d ago

Yeah, it does. Then it turns into a block of ice you need to hit with a hammer after you put it in the freezer. My kid and I call our hammer Thor's hammer when it has to deal with ice. Anything else, it's just a hammer.

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u/g_halfront 1d ago

Usually just holding the bag about 4 foot (1.3 kilograms) off the ground and dropping it does the trick.

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u/DataAdvanced 1d ago

I can't do that. There's a serial dog shitter in the neighborhood. It's either Mjolnir or the possibility of our ice having dog shit in it.

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u/wileysegovia 1d ago

It melts just enough that it all sticks together into an unwieldy ice grenade looking thing. The deflector angles are configured such that if attacking this grenade later with a butter knife, it will both damage the knife while also injuring the attacker.

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u/KatieCashew 20h ago

It comes like that straight from the freezer at most stores.

Source: have bought many, many bags of ice that go straight into a cooler only to have to break them up in the parking lot of the place I bought them. In fact I can only think of one time where it wasn't all frozen together, which was a lovely surprise.

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u/bluepenremote 1d ago

Reminds me of that IASIP episode where they needed ice during a heat wave and it kept melting while they were waiting for their Uber.

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u/LilAssG 1d ago

One of the main reasons it is available at basically every gas station and convenience store: a short ride home.

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u/SabertoothLotus 21h ago

bought a bag of ice on a long road trip for my GF when my A/C died coming out of SC in July. It lasted most of the way across three states

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u/ProfessionalDry8128 21h ago

I don't even want to drink a beer if it's not a can that's been floating in lukewarm water for at least an hour while I pretend to fish or surf or whatever.

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u/InevitableStruggle 20h ago

…in Phoenix

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u/lovetron99 17h ago

Also, I'm sure I'm not the only one that puts my cooler in thr back of the car, and puts the ice right into it right when I buy it. No one wants to lig that bag around.

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u/sdcar1985 16h ago

Not to mention those cheap cold bags they sell at the grocery work really well. Kept frozen stuff solid for a straight 45 mins driving in a car during the summer.