Strange business ideas
People sell food from their houses, teenagers start tiny clothing businesses, somebody is always selling something out of a backpack, and occasionally a product appears that makes you stop and ask:
"Who thought of this?"
Then there are the girls selling ice pops in condoms.
Yes.
Condoms.
And before you start asking questions, no, this isn't some strange joke.
They're actually selling frozen ice pops.
The Idea
The concept is surprisingly simple.
The girls make flavored frozen ice treats, pour the mixture into condoms, tie them shut, and freeze them.
Once they're frozen, they're sold as little homemade ice pops.
The result is basically a long, colorful frozen treat that looks absolutely ridiculous.
And somehow...
People buy them.
The flavors vary depending on what's available, but the whole thing has become something of a local curiosity.
You don't even need to advertise them much.
Just seeing someone walking around Eastern Ravenport holding one is enough to make another person ask:
"Where did you get that?"
The Packaging Problem
Of course, there is one unavoidable issue.
The packaging.
It's difficult to explain to someone that you're eating an ice pop when the first thing they notice is the shape of it.
Even worse when someone sees a group of girls selling them and asks what they're selling.
"Ice pops."
"Where are they?"
They point at the cooler.
You look inside.
And suddenly you understand why everyone was laughing.
It's probably one of the strangest examples of local entrepreneurship Ravenport has ever produced.
But People Actually Like Them
Here's the part that makes absolutely no sense.
They're apparently good.
People buy them because they're cheap, cold, sweet, and convenient.
Some customers don't even care about the unusual packaging anymore.
To them, it's just an ice pop.
A weirdly shaped ice pop.
But an ice pop.
The girls have essentially managed to turn something that should have been an embarrassing joke into an actual little business.
Eastern Ravenport Doesn't Ask Too Many Questions
That's probably the most Ravenport part of the whole thing.
Someone starts selling frozen treats inside condoms.
People laugh.
People stare.
Someone tries one.
Someone else buys five.
And eventually everyone just accepts that this is apparently something people do now.
Maybe that's the secret to surviving Eastern Ravenport.
Don't question everything.
Sometimes you just buy the ice pop.
Even if it's frozen inside a condom.
Just... maybe don't eat it in front of your grandmother.
