At this very moment, there are forty-three Otter Pops sitting in my freezer. Piled on top of frozen fruit and pizza rolls, the colorful tubes poke out at every corner, waiting for someone to reach in and choose a flavor (cherry and blue raspberry are fan favorites). When my roommate and I first moved into our dorm, Otter Pops were the only food we had. We decided to take a spontaneous trip to Walmart on the afternoon of our move-in slot, only intending to buy the necessities like a lamp and storage bins. However, we were unable to resist the $1.99 otter pop deal. Six weeks into the school year, and five bags of Otter Pops later, they still remain a staple in room 905. You may be wondering, how did two people manage to go through five packs of otter pops so quickly? Well, we’ve had some help along the way.
When we first got here, our freezer was broken. So, the Otter Pops sat atop the closet shelf for almost a week and a half while we patiently awaited a response from Service Wave. Yet, as we West-Coast-kids suffered from the New Orleans heat, all we wanted was an Otter Pop after a long day of walking (even on the days we spent a maximum of three minutes outside). We told everyone on our floor to submit a request to Service Wave for our freezer so that we might hear back quicker (in hindsight this probably was not the most useful tactic) and we promised Otter Pops as a reward for their efforts. Once Service Wave fixed our freezer, it was like Christmas Day. We finally had our Otter Pops and people from our floor came flocking to our room to rejoice in our fixed freezer and sweet frozen treats.
After some time, we became known for our hoard of Otter Pops and people would stop in all the time to grab one and chat with us for a while. Whenever people came to visit us, they would always go straight for the freezer. Some nights, we went through 15-20 otter pops at a time. It became a known fact on our floor that we always had Otter Pops and were willing to share. We discovered that basically everyone else calls them “ice pops” so we came to the conclusion that the name “Otter Pop” must be a West Coast thing. For my birthday, my friend from down the hall bought us another pack of them. It was the best gift I could have asked for.
Today, people from our floor will come into our dorm, sit down, and talk with us and our floormates about every topic under the sun, all while sharing Otter Pops. Somehow, flavored ice managed to bring us together more than anything else could. I somehow know that we will never run out of our favorite treat, even if there are times when we are only left to choose between orange and lemon (I am guilty of eating the last blue pop as I write this article now). If I were to recommend any dorm necessity, it would without a doubt be one or two $1.99 bags of Otter Pops to add a little flavor to your room.
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Omg I haven’t thought about Otter Pops in years but now I’m craving them haha.
I love this idea for freshmen or sophomores looking to meet new people 🙂