The other night, Chuck and I were on the way home when I remembered we needed ice. Buying ice is a necessity this time of year. I am a person who likes my drinks cold, which means many cubes per drink. I own three ice trays – that's the limit my freezer can hold. With the indoor temperature at 90°F, my poor little freezer cannot make ice quickly enough to keep up with my need, so we buy it.
I am also really picky about my water and ice. The best brand of ice in town is Bajo Cero. It's also the hardest to find. I was very excited when they started carrying it at the Farmacia Guadalajara just a few minutes from my house.
The farmacia (which is a lot like a Walgreen's) is usually very busy on a Friday evening, and this Friday was no exception. I don't like to wait in line with my ice because it melts – go figure. So I usually get in line and pay, and then grab my ice as I walk out the door. I also learned the hard way to check on the ice supply. The ice freezer at Farmacia Guadalajara is very small. The later in the day it is, the less likely they are to have ice. So I took a quick peek in the freezer. Four bags. Good.
I got in line, paid my money, then went to get my ice. That's when I discovered the one thing I failed to check: whether I could actually get any ice out of the freezer. All four bags were frozen to the bottom. Solidly. Well drat. I figured I was going to have to stand in line and get my money back, or, heck, just let them keep the 10 pesos and walk out without the ice, when the young bag boy noticed my predicament and came over to free a bag for me.
I'm thinking I probably don't want the ice anyway. If it melted enough to freeze to the bottom, it's probably just one, solid, useless block. But the young boy (about 10) is very sweet, and very eager, so I waited for him to have a go.
Of course, he was unsuccessful. I was in the process of thanking him and trying to leave when he called out to the manager. Now I was stuck. The manager came over and looked puzzled. She didn't know what to do. She called over some other employees and they all had a hushed conference discussing what to do about the ice.
The attention of all of the patrons was quickly diverted by my predicament and every single man in the busy store came over to try and help me. I am not making this up – they all lined up for their chance to try and free a bag of ice for me. Some gave a quick tug and shrugged, while others climbed inside the freezer and attacked the problem in earnest. You would have thought they were trying to pull Excalibur from the stone.
Finally, a man of about 30 stepped up to the freezer. He held his chin as he pondered the problem. The entire crowd watched. Very dramatiacally, he held up a finger and called to the girl behind the deli counter, "¡Aguas calientes!" The girl quickly scurried over bearing the tiniest vessel imaginable of hot water. The man took the hot water with a flourish and then turned to the freezer. He dripped just a few drops of water at three separate places around the bag, then reached in and handed me the bag of ice.
At this point, I expected the camera to start panning the faces of the cheering, adulating crowd and the man to be presented with a laurel wreath, or at least some applause, but no, everyone just smiled, gave a thumbs up, and went about their business of buying Kleenex and diapers.
I thanked him, took my ice, and hurried to the truck and home where I had a cold drink and sat in wonder yet again about this marvelous place where I live. Mexico rocks!
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