I had heard about America's apparent obsession with cooling even before I came to the States, although I wasn't aware quite how omnipresent it is.
For instance, people drive their air-conditioned cars from their air-conditioned homes to their air-conditioned offices. On the way back, they may stop to do some shopping at an air-conditioned mall, and in the evening they might drive to an air-conditioned cinema or pick up some food at an air-conditioned take-away.
Now don't get me wrong: I have nothing against a bit of climate control when it's baking outside and/or near maximum humidity. But the strange thing about air-conditioning is that whatever the weather, whatever the season, air conditioning units are always set to about 5°C cooler than is agreeable. As such, my wife had to take a jumper (sorry: sweater) to work all last summer.
Ice is another manifestation of this phenomenon. Everything that is not cooked is served chilled. At our local sports centre, the water fountain dispenses ice cubes. Our fridge has a water inlet hose in the back so that it can make an endless stream of ice cubes all by itself. And when Hurricane Ike swept through Texas and Louisiana last summer, the emergency services handed out food, water and - you guessed it - ice.
In restaurants, drinks are always "on the rocks", and we've had to learn to make a point of ordering drinks without ice. In fact, the first thing they bring you when you sit down is a large glass of iced tap water (usually at a ratio of 1:1, ice to water). And if you are foolish enough to reject your complimentary iced water, waiters give you a very pitying look as if you were doing something extremely unwise.
Sometimes, however, people go over the top even by American standards. A few weeks ago we went out for a meal and, to avoid the hassle of explaining that we didn't like freezing drinks in mid-winter, meekly accepted our iced tap water and refrained from pointing out that our juices had arrived ice-chilled after all. But then shortly after ordering our food, the waitress came and put a large bowl in the middle of our table. "Your ice," she said.
For instance, people drive their air-conditioned cars from their air-conditioned homes to their air-conditioned offices. On the way back, they may stop to do some shopping at an air-conditioned mall, and in the evening they might drive to an air-conditioned cinema or pick up some food at an air-conditioned take-away.
Now don't get me wrong: I have nothing against a bit of climate control when it's baking outside and/or near maximum humidity. But the strange thing about air-conditioning is that whatever the weather, whatever the season, air conditioning units are always set to about 5°C cooler than is agreeable. As such, my wife had to take a jumper (sorry: sweater) to work all last summer.
Ice is another manifestation of this phenomenon. Everything that is not cooked is served chilled. At our local sports centre, the water fountain dispenses ice cubes. Our fridge has a water inlet hose in the back so that it can make an endless stream of ice cubes all by itself. And when Hurricane Ike swept through Texas and Louisiana last summer, the emergency services handed out food, water and - you guessed it - ice.
In restaurants, drinks are always "on the rocks", and we've had to learn to make a point of ordering drinks without ice. In fact, the first thing they bring you when you sit down is a large glass of iced tap water (usually at a ratio of 1:1, ice to water). And if you are foolish enough to reject your complimentary iced water, waiters give you a very pitying look as if you were doing something extremely unwise.
Sometimes, however, people go over the top even by American standards. A few weeks ago we went out for a meal and, to avoid the hassle of explaining that we didn't like freezing drinks in mid-winter, meekly accepted our iced tap water and refrained from pointing out that our juices had arrived ice-chilled after all. But then shortly after ordering our food, the waitress came and put a large bowl in the middle of our table. "Your ice," she said.
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