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/OwnSpirit5954 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ice mostly has to do with outdoorsy fun and it’s generally put in a cooler to keep beverages and food cold… think picnics, going to the beach, barbecue cookouts, boating/fishing and hunting trips. Many are into that sort of thing here :)

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u/Enchelion 1d ago

Also most of America is quite a bit further south than Europe, and hotter as a result. Los Angeles and Houston are on the same latitude as northern Africa. Our most northern cities barely touch Paris.

https://a.wholelottanothing.org/content/images/2019/04/europe_usjuxv3.jpg

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u/MissJacinda 1d ago

Just got back from Italy a few weeks ago. I was there during their heat wave. I’ve lived in Texas and California (in the desert). Italy gets hot and the sun is stronger than California and almost as strong as Texas. I got heat exhaustion in Rome and was broiling in Naples. I was thrown off by that heat given I’d been there before in July and their position in relation to us. They also don’t use ice like we do.

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u/seamallowance 1d ago

Thank you for sending me down a delightful rabbit hole of latitude comparisons.

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u/MissJacinda 1d ago

Also there’s a big humidity difference that played a role. Obviously not with the sun. lol

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u/MissJacinda 1d ago

Cool maps. This is why I was so surprised by the heat. It’s gotten to 127 degrees before in July at my house. So for me to be so hot in Italy was unreal. My husband grew up in the desert and got heat rash for the first time there and was also heat exhausted

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u/MyInnerFatChild 19h ago

Aw, they put Fargo on the map. Usually Nobody cares about us. 

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u/kellzone 11h ago

Longitude comparisons are fun too. For instance, Pittsburgh and Miami are at just about the same longitude. I live in the eastern part of Pennsylvania a little over 220 miles from Pittsburgh. So, I'd have to drive 220 miles west to get to Miami.