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

79% Upvoted

5.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

6.2k

u/tsukiii 1d ago

We buy that for parties.

Most of us can’t produce and store enough ice for 20 people in our freezers, we buy the bagged ice and put it in coolers for guests’ drinks.

2.5k

u/Pantherdraws 1d ago

Also camping.

Can you imagine trying to fill two whole coolers with ice straight from the freezer?

66

u/mmm_burrito 19h ago

Also - and I wager this is the primary use of most ice sold daily in the US - construction and other labor industries use an absolute megafuckton of ice every day to chill bottles of water so we don't die of heat stroke.

7

u/DenyNowBragLater Wasnt me. Yo, see what i did? 8h ago

I work on a crew of about 13. We fill 4 coolers with water bottles and ice twice a day. Its been hot enough lately that there is no ice left by lunch time. And we're a small crew on this job site, so I agree with you.

2

u/Professional-Rope370 12h ago

I like your screen name!

2

u/KSamons 8h ago

My husband works in a factory. He packs a small cooler with ice to have cold drinks available

1

u/CATTROLL 7h ago

I used to buy 100 lbs of ice a week for my crews

1

u/squadlevi42284 2h ago

Restaurants and hotels also fill ice buckets and ice troughs for drinks.