Day 121 - Minnesota Nice or How North Dakota of You

image by J. Stephen Conn, via Flickr

I have been in my hometown for nearly two weeks and I keep being reminded of what a wonderful place it is, setting the matter of the weather aside. I spent so many years of my life trying to figure out how to get out, probably because I didn't realize what I would be missing or how much less of the wonderful stuff I would find elsewhere. Here are some examples.

On Sunday when my sister, brother, sister-in-law and I were at a local restaurant for dinner, a young woman came to our table as she was leaving and asked if we could use a coupon for 20% off our bill. It was only good through that day. My initial thought was cynical. What was she getting out of it, I thought. So my first response was that we had already received our bill so I couldn't use the coupon. My sister pointed out that I could use the coupon at the cash register, so we accepted it. And sure enough, the coupon knocked one whole meal's cost off the bill. That's Minnesota nice.

The other day, I went to a McDonald's restaurant and found the door locked when I got there. I thought that was curious, so I walked over to one of the windows to peer in to see if it was closed. Within seconds, one of the customers in the store had come to the door to open it for me. She said she also found the door locked when she arrived. It was a statement, not a complaint, and she smiled at me as she held the door open. That's also Minnesota nice.

image by J. Stephen Conn, via Flickr

I ordered a meal, but I wanted to substitute a strawberry lemonade for the drink. What I got was both the strawberry lemonade and a glass for a beverage. I thought about filling the glass with a soft drink to take home with me, but then I drank a large sip of the lemonade and got the worst case of brain freeze ever. My head hurt. My nose hurt. My eyes hurt. My eyes watered. My throat hurt. My heart started pounding. All I wanted to do was lie down until it went away. All I could do was put my head in my hands and wait for it to go away. At that point I didn't want anything more to drink so I picked up my tray and the rest of my lemonade and headed toward the refuse bin to toss the wrappers, leaving the empty cup behind on the table. The woman at the table next to me ran after me to give me back my empty cup. That's Minnesota nice.

Today I went to a local pharmacy to print off some photos. The sign at the photo station instructed me to go to the next register. But the next register was empty and had a sign saying to ring the bell for help. A woman was standing there, having rung the bell at least twice already. When no one appeared, she turned to me with a smile and said we could just as well take our things and leave. But she didn't mean it, of course. Instead, she rang the bell again and waited until one of the clerks finally arrived. How North Dakota of her.

On reflection, I now realize that by leaving this area, I had expected to find the wonder of big cities and exotic places along with that Minnesota Nice attitude. People here are generally trustworthy which means it is safe to assume someone is telling the truth until proven otherwise. In so much of the rest of the world, the opposite is the only safe assumption. While I can't imagine my life turning out any way other than the way it has done so far, I am very happy to have started out here, with the safety and security of trustworthy people around me, with policemen who really do serve the public, and counselors who counsel instead of taking advantage of those in their care.