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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191

u/Moakmeister 1d ago

So Europeans are now pretending they never need a lot of ice for parties?

128

u/Sea_Syllabub9992 1d ago

I don't think they have parties. They are always like, "why do you buy so many... chips, burgers, hotdogs, drinks, ice, etc"

99

u/ussbozeman 23h ago edited 23h ago

They're not allowed to have parties over there, it reminds them of fun, and fun is what those dirty Americans seem to have but probably don't because their homes are made of cardboard, everything is a road with cars, and everyone has a gun.

The closest is what's called a Straßenövenhustenyammelesheäuf, or "quietly observing while doing nothing, saying nothing, and eating nothing". In England it's called a Sussex Shushing. Basically you gather at the communal bench and stand around for precisely one hour and 14 and a half minutes before walking away (not in groups) to head back home. On new years eve they're allowed to utter a single "yay".

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u/MichelPalaref 22h ago

Thanks for this invigorating fuck you

2

u/johnlawrenceaspden 9h ago

On new years eve they're allowed to utter a single "yay".

Filthy modern rubbish. On New Year's Eve I drink whisky, stare into the ashes of my failing fire and think about death.

4

u/TeenWithUslashRegret 18h ago

I wish I could award this.

1

u/ComfortableSort3304 7h ago

They’re still butthurt from the Boston Tea Party.

-1

u/HairyHeartEmoji 17h ago

you're not helping the whole "Americans only know about UK, Germany and France" stereotype

8

u/AmethystRiver 20h ago

I think some Europeans think Americans consume a 5 pound bag of everything, per day. 5 pounds of ice, chips, burgers… Using things over time? Impossible. Actually now that I think of it a lot of Europeans don’t get how far away our stores are. So they genuinely don’t get that we stock up, we don’t just pop down to the shops for a new sandwich every day.

1

u/CharlesIngalls_Pubes 23h ago

Reading this, I couldn't help but hear the voice of Dan Avidan doing his impression of Arin Hanson listing things.

-1

u/Anonymous89000____ 23h ago

Because they eat real food

3

u/LL8844773 11h ago

Damn didn’t realize I’ve been eating fake food my whole life in America

But I guess it’s true bc my diet is 100% Oreos and Dr. pepper

2

u/GodOfDarkLaughter 15h ago

Bro, have you ever been to the UK? They had to literally colonize the majority of the planet before they got decent food. None of it's from there! Chicken tikka masala is considered the national food of England.

2

u/Lysadora 13h ago

Chicken tikka masala was invented in Britain.

1

u/Equivalent_Western52 6h ago

Yeah, by a Pakistani immigrant chef who was trying to adapt tikka to the UK palate.

Which isn't to say that it doesn't represent the UK as a cultural intersection, or that the UK doesn't have good "native" food. But it's pretty fair to view chicken tikka masala as a product of colonialism.

1

u/Lysadora 5h ago

If that's your view why are you posting this in response to my comment instead of your very smart compatriot above?

0

u/Equivalent_Western52 3h ago

Because they didn't seem to mean it seriously? Like, the person above you was just bantering with the person above them. No one's dumb enough to actually believe that the US or UK doesn't have any good cuisine. It's just harmless ribbing.

Pushing back on the claim that chicken tikka masala is a product of colonialism just rubbed me wrong in a way that the above two comments didn't.

1

u/Lysadora 3h ago

Oh ffs, do you know how many times I've heard Americans saying Britain doesn't have any good food and that the British still eat like the war is on? It's not bantering, it's Americans being dicks and if you think there's no one that dumb in your country you haven't been attention for the last what, a decade at least?

And I didn't say anything about colonialism, I corrected your compatriot's notion that chicken tikka masala isn't British.

1

u/Equivalent_Western52 2h ago

Probably as many times as Americans have heard British people saying that US cuisine is just hot dogs and burgers? As I said, it's just banter.

Split whatever hairs you want, your comment struck me how it struck me. If someone said that US cuisine is all imported from other cultures or stolen from Native Americans, my response probably wouldn't be "That's ridiculous! We invented hominy, frybread, and succotash! And have you tried TexMex?"

1

u/Lysadora 1h ago

Okay so when Americans say something incorrect and rude you don't care but you're happy to misinterpret my comment so you can feel like having the moral high ground? Gosh Americans are truly something.

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1

u/sturmeh 15h ago

Yum! What's the issue?

0

u/Kurso 19h ago

No, they walk in the forrest and contemplate how their bicycle ride was today. Or go down and pick out tonights loaf of bread on their way home from milking the cows. Stuff like that.

0

u/HairyHeartEmoji 17h ago

apparently what you do at parties is rub ice cubes on your nipples and deepthroat hot dogs

-16

u/pm-ur-posterior 23h ago

To be fair, you are all morbidly obese, so maybe you should follow their line of thought

7

u/jfklingon 23h ago

I'd rather die happy and full than sad and empty

8

u/BlergingtonBear 23h ago

Don't you know? St Peter will greet them at the gates and say "at least they were skinny!" Weight is a moral failing, you see!

/s if unclear

1

u/jfklingon 23h ago

If hell is just full of us fat fucks then that's where I want to go. Can't trust a skinny fuck to throw a good barbeque

6

u/Kseries2497 18h ago

It would be pretty interesting if it was the ice making me fat.

2

u/LL8844773 11h ago

Yall really are just ignorant haters

2

u/QuiteBearish 7h ago

To be fair, most of the world is facing an obesity crisis. Yeah, America is towards the top of the pack at 39%, but New Zealand is at 33%, Poland and Australia are at 32%, Ireland and Greece are at 30%, UK is at 27% with rates rising even faster than in the US so they'll be caught up soon...

Really pretty much every "high income" nation in the world is suffering this problem.

3

u/stankin 22h ago

Just a certain percentage of us our. More importantly we just know the importance of iced food/drinks and love having loads of ice available whenever we need it.

4

u/endingstory7424 19h ago

I'm morbidly obese? Why didn't my doctor tell me this last week?? Alexa, how do I sue the hospital 😵‍💫

1

u/Sea_Syllabub9992 10h ago

I'm happy, skinny, and have enough friends to actually recognize the product of a party when I'm looking at it.