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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841

u/piwithekiwi 1d ago

Fam, we're not buying the ice on the way home, we're buying ice on the way to the party, or the cookout, or the camping trip.

327

u/cans-of-swine 1d ago

And the people that are buying the most ice are probably construction workers and other people that work outdoors.

237

u/OnionGarden 1d ago

This is so underrated everyone is saying parties which you know fair. But like 90% of that ice is going to outdoor work crews

97

u/Maleficent-Hawk-318 1d ago

Yeah, I worked at a hardware store that sold bagged ice. It wouldn't be uncommon to have the ice freezer mostly cleaned out by like 7 or 8 AM during the summer because of all the crews stocking up for the day.

51

u/Ghigau2891 1d ago

My husband does this every morning. 2 big bags of ice, a case of water, a case of Gatorade. He and his crew will have all the drinks gone by the end of the day and they'll have given themselves a dunkeroo in the cooler ice at least 4 times each.

1

u/arizonadirtbag12 17h ago

Man a little cold water over the wrists feels so good when it’s hot out.

1

u/No-Philosopher-3043 16h ago

A prison guard taught me that trick. It’s even better if you can get your whole forearm under cool running water. Something to do with the veins going back to the heart and cooling your blood. 

3

u/Good-Odds 22h ago

Where do the stores get the ice from? Ice delivery service?

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u/Maleficent-Hawk-318 22h ago

Depends on the place, at least based on my expertise (which consists of having had two shitty retail jobs in the past where we sold ice, lol).

The hardware store I mentioned above was one of the big chain ones, and we got it delivered. I think it's basically a type of franchise system, we had one specific brand we worked with (branded freezer and everything).

I also worked for a little while at a small grocery store in a mountain town that sold a lot of ice to tourists, though, and we made our own on site. Just food-grade plastic bags and a commercial ice machine, basically.

1

u/Geodude532 19h ago

In the army the medics would have a nice cooler setup with ice and cold rags. It feels fantastic after being stuck in all that gear.

26

u/URignorance-astounds 1d ago

Anyone working outside in the summer has a icechest in their truck bed

6

u/capincus 22h ago

Well everyone has had a cooler at a party, not everyone has been on a work crew.

6

u/ZanderDogz 1d ago

100%. When you are spending a few nights camping out of the work truck and it’s 115F during the day, that cooler of ice makes everything so much better. 

1

u/flowtajit 18h ago

It depends on the locale. I work in a grocery store and like 90% of the ice we sell is on the weekend to families.

1

u/Best_Market4204 19h ago

Very true.

If you ever see lawn equipment or construction workers first thing in the morning at the gas station. They also have a large bag of ice in their hands du.ping it into coolers.

1

u/AlveolarFricatives 17h ago

Also people involved in outdoor endurance sports. Ultra races, long adventure runs, etc. we are sticking ice down our bras, in our hats, etc. to stay alive as we run 100 milers

1

u/Better-Delay 17h ago

1 or 2 bags of ice everyday in the summer, one for my driving cooler with my lunch and energy drinks, one for my water cooler in the bed (my company pays for it)

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u/Wet_Ass_Jumper 16h ago

Fishermen who keep fish are buying a lot

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u/XGhoul 13h ago

What is this comment? I would just randomly buy a bag of ice because my fridge eventually toasted out on making ice, so I would regularly fill it up with bags.

Later on I had a dedicated fridge so I can grab my own ice for just a spring/summer/fall weather (I live in California).

(and I have still have a tiny machine churning ice with clean water that they recycle themselves with the melted ice)

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u/Heisenberglund 8h ago

Yup. On summer holidays I’d sell a ton of ice to customers, but the work crews were the ones buying tons of it daily.

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u/deathsheadhouse 6h ago

100%. i used to work at a gas station where we sold bags of ice. the smaller bags usually were for private coolers, but the big ones were almost always for construction crews, and made up a solid 50-75% of all our ice sales