Bros Icing Tourists

So I spent last night with some of the frattiest guys I've ever come across. Two of them were frat brothers at the College of Charleston, and the third was one of their twin brothers from real life.

Upon noticing my American accent, they immediately invited me to drink with them in the hostel kitchen, where they had a copious amount of alcohol for three people. I told them I had to finish up some emailing but would be up shortly.

Boston College doesn't have any frats, so I worried about how I could ingratiate myself into this foreign and strange social group. But I've studied the ways of the frat bro from a distance since I was a teenager; I've observed their ways, their strengths and weaknesses. And I knew there was one single action that would automatically win me their permanent favor.

I had to ice one of them. For those of you not familiar with the process; it involves surprising a "bro" with a Smirnoff Ice (a notoriously girly drink), after which their honor necessitates getting on one knee and chugging the entire drink down. My strategy worked to perfection. I knocked on their door to find them chewing tobacco and alternating spitting with drinks of beer. Upon the icing, tears of joy were let loose, and I was firmly hugged by all three before my target descended into icing position.

I did, of course, get iced in return later, but it was a small price to pay. They paid for all my drinks for the rest of the night, at every bar we went to (no small expense in Dublin), refusing to take my money. And we engaged in interesting conversation.

One of them, the only one actually from South Carolina, launched into a long conversation with me about the differences between the south and the north, before eventually telling me, "Look, I say this as a pretty conservative person racially speaking, but most people in my state are just ignorant." (He soon after told me how it took them 15 minutes to get served a beer in JFK, possibly because of the darker complexion of the bartender's skin). He was a nice enough kid - very nice actually, although I am white - but it definitely does seem like the Civil War is still raging.

In any case, it seems as though the phenomenon of bros icing bros has crossed the Atlantic. It's unknown and unlikely if I'm the first to ice a bro in Europe, but if I am...I'm almost as ashamed as I am proud.