Why Aren't Minnesotans Open with their Feelings? (Cleveland: living in, business)

[AGuyFromCleveland18]

There seems to be a culture here of being closed off and not open with your feelings. I think this breeds emotional coldness and distance between people. I don't know whether this is a good thing, bad thing, or neutral thing, but it's certainly different from where I come from. What do you native or long-time Minnesotans think? Would you prefer to live in a place where people talked more candidly about personal matters, or is it fine living in a more reserved way?

[Ghengis]

I'd explain it to you if you were a native Minnesotan but then again, I wouldn't have to do that because you'd already know.

[audadvnc]

Erm... OK. So, how about them Twins, eh?

[geebabe]

Because our feelings are none of your business?! (Intended to be taken with a sense of humor.)
And why, Mr Cleveland guy, is Ohio such a boring state to drive through? ha-ha!!

[AGuyFromCleveland18]

Originally Posted by geebabe

Because our feelings are none of your business?! (Intended to be taken with a sense of humor.)
And why, Mr Cleveland guy, is Ohio such a boring state to drive through? ha-ha!!

And Minnesota's so much better? If anything Minnesota is more boring to drive through because it's flat and there are no forests to look at like we have in the eastern part of Ohio, where I'm from. Anyway, no one has yet given me an answer to my questions, all they've done is get defensive about their state. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, I just want to know what you native Minnesotans think about this?

[geebabe]

Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18

And Minnesota's so much better? If anything Minnesota is more boring to drive through because it's flat and there are no forests to look at like we have in the eastern part of Ohio, where I'm from.

Oh no, it sounds like you haven't been to the most beautiful part of the MN which is most, if not all, of the eastern side (north & south). Lots of forest, lakes, and cliffs - gorgeous.
I do agree with you that the other parts of MN are boring; however those parts are liked by people too. Different strokes.
I guess I saw the worst of Ohio and I only said that because of your original question. Stereotyping sucks, eh?!

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18

There seems to be a culture here of being closed off and not open with your feelings. I think this breeds emotional coldness and distance between people. I don't know whether this is a good thing, bad thing, or neutral thing, but it's certainly different from where I come from. What do you native or long-time Minnesotans think? Would you prefer to live in a place where people talked more candidly about personal matters, or is it fine living in a more reserved way?

German/Scandinavian heritage?

Not to stereotype but there is a general tendency for the present day natives of northern Europe to be unemotional, with little sense of humor. Obviously not always true. And in other parts of the U.S. where you find theres a strong Germanic heritage you find somewhat similar tendencies.

[west336]

Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18

There seems to be a culture here of being closed off and not open with your feelings. I think this breeds emotional coldness and distance between people. I don't know whether this is a good thing, bad thing, or neutral thing, but it's certainly different from where I come from. What do you native or long-time Minnesotans think? Would you prefer to live in a place where people talked more candidly about personal matters, or is it fine living in a more reserved way?

So far in Cleveland, OH nobody has been more open about their feelings than in MN....are you sure it's a regional thing?

[west336]

Originally Posted by AGuyFromCleveland18

And Minnesota's so much better? If anything Minnesota is more boring to drive through because it's flat and there are no forests to look at like we have in the eastern part of Ohio, where I'm from. Anyway, no one has yet given me an answer to my questions, all they've done is get defensive about their state. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, I just want to know what you native Minnesotans think about this?

You usually have something negative to say about this state, maybe that's why people aren't answering your question. Besides, how is somebody supposed to provide the answer for you -- it's completely subjective based on your opinion about how somebody may or may not be feeling (difficult to measure)? Minnesotans in general don't take life as seriously as many others and tend to have a funny sense of humor (so do Wisconsinites, Chicagoans and Michiganders).

[AGuyFromCleveland18]

Originally Posted by west336

You usually have something negative to say about this state, maybe that's why people aren't answering your question. Besides, how is somebody supposed to provide the answer for you -- it's completely subjective based on your opinion about how somebody may or may not be feeling (difficult to measure)? Minnesotans in general don't take life as seriously as many others and tend to have a funny sense of humor (so do Wisconsinites, Chicagoans and Michiganders).

I'm sorry but it gets to me when I'm surrounded by people that are not honest with each other about how they are feeling, I think that causes a lot of psychological problems in the culture (which I think the Coen brothers were trying to latch onto in the film Fargo). If people keep everything to themselves, it makes it very hard for a real sense of community support to develop. I have just noticed that a lot of Minnesotans will wait till somebody leaves the room to say what they really think, which basically means they spend a good portion of their lives emotionally repressed, which creates the image of being nice, but leads to acting out in other ways to compensate.