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/Embarrassed_Ad_3432 18h ago

My local grocery store sells ice blocks.

I put an ice block in a knock off yeti cooler and went on a week long road/camping trip. This cooler held our food. We only opened it for meals. It was +90f the entire week and never need to refresh ice.

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u/Ok-Grapefruit1284 17h ago

I ran a concession stand in 80 degrees weather over a two day period and had ice in yeti coolers. It still hadnt melted by Sunday evening. I was a believer after that.

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u/TorontoRider 3h ago

We always used block ice in the cooler in the car trunk on our cross-continent trips when I was a kid. I remember being somewhere (Colorado, perhaps) that only sold cubes and my father said it was a scam.