What does 'Minnesota Nice' mean? (St. Paul: home, rent, lease)

[Wood & Creek]

Wow that in itself was off topic! In any case, I've also lived in FL and MI, and many places I've vacationed to I've spent 3-4 weeks "living" before leaving. Also trust me, WI and MN are not all that similar.

Also.. there's nuts everywhere! Yep, even in MN. I can agree that we seem to be very sensitive to race issues, hence why I've described MNans as PC. I've never claimed MN is the best place to live. I like it here, I've had a good experience growing up here. There are many other states I also like, and some I don't. The whole pride and centrism thing is blown out of proportion. It seems like a lot of people on this board don't like MN, so I'm just trying to give my perspective on why I do like it. If you want to act like I'm marching down the street with MN flags then go ahead, it's just funny. I can't wait to leave. I just got done hiking on a day when the high was -3 and my pop froze before I could even drink it. I think the education and liberal attitude that this state fosters is good. That being said, if you don't appreciate those values your not going to care for MN. It's a big country, lot's of places to choose from, lot's of different attitudes.

All I know is I wouldn't go posting on another states board how much I didn't like them. I've been posting on OR because I want to relocate there, and started posting here to help people get advice who are thinking of moving here.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by Wood & Creek

Cabin Fever and alcholism? I know that I get out quite a bit and spring through fall you can find me camping, backpacking, whitewater kayaking or rafting ect. and in the winters I am snowshoeing or ice skating. I drink perhaps 3-4 times a year.

As far as my ancestery...not a very normal question, but I don't mind answering I guess. I am german, swiss and something else we don't know as my grandmother was adopted but most people agree it is most likely Native American or perhaps Greek. I have dark olive skin, thick long dark hair and hazel eyes.

Sorry we've gotten off on the wrong foot, our personalities are just most likely on opposite ends of the spectrum though I have no doubt you are probably a very nice person!

The CA camp had accoustic guitar and groups of people singing and dancing to sublime and radiohead.. smiling.. laughing...hugging... they tried to invite the PA kids to their camp several times and were sworn and yelled at in response! It made me pretty embarrased to be a part of the PA camp.

The cabin fever alcoholism comment was about the region...there is a high rate of depression and alcoholism up there due to the elements and such.

Sorry to hear about the CA kids being pooh-poohed. It's weird. Usually easterners are pretty out there themselves.

[roneb]

Originally Posted by youngurbanprofessional

Traveling to and living in are two totally different things. Going on a vacation somewhere doesn't give you a sense of lifestyle or community in that area, because you are a tourist there for pleasure and enjoyment. Places you go and things you do are accommodated to you. You can't possibly rate MN as the place you've always lived in high regard and compare it to places you've gone on vacation to.

I also agree that Pride and Centricism are separate, but that is pretty typical of a Minnesota to blow a topic out of it's proportion or into unrelative areas. If you've lived there and watched/listened to local news you'll know what I'm talking about. You'll probably argue this, so I'll point out examples: A woman was arrested, stole a gun from an escorting police officer and shot and killed her, shot another officer who then killed the arrested woman. The arrested woman killed's family blew the whole thing out of revelance claiming she was a self defending hero who was a victim of racism. She killed a cop. Also later discovered she was living in a shelter collecting welfare while she rented out a home in Lakeville.

Also, more commonly known, the asian man who was hunting in northern WI who shot and killed like 9 people. His family blamed the dead ones for teasing him. Then it became a claim of self defense. Too bad he shot some of them victims in the back as they were running for their lives, otherwise he might've had a case. His family was completely out of their minds making wild claims for his defense.

We all know these were horrible acts and the criminals got justice, but I remember seeing so many people jump on the bandwagon to protect these criminals and their "rights" and they did so by blowing the situations way out of proportion to disguise the true nature.

That's the best way for me to tell a True Minnesotan, especially when they are defending their "pride" (centricism). They will blow the topic out of proportion and make the accusations completely erradic and off topic by putting words in people's mouths. I hear this time and time again on talk radio shows when callers dialed in to defend criminals and the outlying situation.

Wow!... This post is so far off the mark / topic as to be laughable. Sure, you've mentioned two prominant national news stories that took place in MN. But those events really have NO BEARING on the general population of MN. Bad things happen throughout the US and I've seen outcries defending criminals from every part. A favorite of mine from here in Portland was the young lady who was out at 2:00AM breaking the terms of her parole, with cocaine in her system, who was shot when she tried to drive away from police. The officer thought he was in danger of being run over. I still believe excessive force was used in that particular case, but you should have seen the effort to paint this lady as a "sweet mother and wonderful person". The event was tragic, but never would have happened had she been honoring her parole and at home with her child! Point being, you'll find similar stories from Ohio, New York, California, you name it. It happens everywhere and certainly has nothing to do with MN-centric, even if you were to believe such a thing exists.

[JenLee]

HOLY BUCKETS!!! This topic is so far OT that it doesn't even make sense anymore!

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by JenLee

HOLY BUCKETS!!! This topic is so far OT that it doesn't even make sense anymore!

OK, so let's bring it around.

Minnesota Nice is a phoney nice. "In your face," "seat of your pants," "bottom of the heart," spontaneous and unrehearsed nice is preferred by most of the complaining parties posting above.

Am I right?

[Movin'East]

Originally Posted by JenLee

HOLY BUCKETS!!! This topic is so far OT that it doesn't even make sense anymore!

I like the off-topic side of this thread - unless it is making MN natives uncomfortable? From MN-nice to MN-centric (and everything in between) is an interesting evolution of the discussion.

Let me give a prime example of a conversation between my mother and me (to the best of my recollection...not quoted perfectly) that highlights the MN-centric theme:

MOM: When are you coming back to MN and your family? You moved away from your home.


ME: I’m not. I love Boston and the East Coast.

MOM: What does Boston have? We have the Twin Cities, and the lakes too.

ME: We have Martha’s Vineyard and the Atlantic.

MOM: You can’t compete with the education system in MN.

ME: The schools here are great Mom, you know that, we’ve had this discussion a thousand times.

MOM: I don’t know why you didn’t go the “U”…it is one of the best medical schools in the country and research from there is highlighted in the Star Tribune all the time. You could have also went to the med school at Duluth and then transferred to the “U” after a couple years.

…silence…

MOM: Well, don’t you think that would have been a better option for you?

ME: Mom, I’m at Harvard. You are crazy. Did you take your lithium ?

MOM: What is that supposed to mean? These are the facts, the U has one of the best programs in the county.

ME: You are nuts. I’ll talk to you next week.

Dr. R.

P.S. Mom isn't crazy...just a Minnesotan and I love her dearly

[youngurbanprofessional]

Originally Posted by Movin'East

I like the off-topic side of this thread - unless it is making MN natives uncomfortable? From MN-nice to MN-centric (and everything in between) is an interesting evolution of the discussion.

Let me give a prime example of a conversation between my mother and me (to the best of my recollection...not quoted perfectly) that highlights the MN-centric theme:

MOM: When are you coming back to MN and your family? You moved away from your home.


ME: I’m not. I love Boston and the East Coast.

MOM: What does Boston have? We have the Twin Cities, and the lakes too.

ME: We have Martha’s Vineyard and the Atlantic.

MOM: You can’t compete with the education system in MN.

ME: The schools here are great Mom, you know that, we’ve had this discussion a thousand times.

MOM: I don’t know why you didn’t go the “U”…it is one of the best medical schools in the country and research from there is highlighted in the Star Tribune all the time. You could have also went to the med school at Duluth and then transferred to the “U” after a couple years.

…silence…

MOM: Well, don’t you think that would have been a better option for you?

ME: Mom, I’m at Harvard. You are crazy. Did you take your lithium ?

MOM: What is that supposed to mean? These are the facts, the U has one of the best programs in the county.

ME: You are nuts. I’ll talk to you next week.

Dr. R.

P.S. Mom isn't crazy...just a Minnesotan and I love her dearly

Oh my god, you just expressed my life story of conversations between my mother, bless her heart, born and raised and lived in Burnsville her whole life....

Mom: How is everytihng? are you getting a enough to eat?

Me: Yes mom, there's plenty of food in Chicago

Mom: How was your weekend, not out all night drinking I hope...

Me: I did go out with friends, had some drinks, I did have my coat stolen at the bar though

Mom: Oh my! See? That's why you should move back to MN, it's safer here.

Me: Mom I'm pretty sure thefts happen everywhere, at least someone found my cell phone in a cab and called my friend and I got it back

Mom: Did you hear Target is hiring at their headquarters, maybe you should send them your resume...

Me: Mom I work for a fortune 500 company already here in Chicago, I just got promoted a month ago

Mom: Well the cost of living is too high, gas is through the roof in Illinois, I saw it on Kare 11 news.

Me: Mom I don't own a car, I use public transportation.....when are you coming to visit me? it's been 3 years since I move here....

Mom: Well I don't know where I would stay...

Me: There's really nice hotels here, my apartment has a guest room

Mom: It's too hard to get around with all that walking on the streets...

Me: I don't walk farther than 8 blocks anywhere, we can take a cab....

And this goes on and on.

My mom just can't possibly understand why I want to live outside of Minnesota. She really can't comprehend it, it boggles her mind. She's never lived outside of Burnsville, she now owns a house in the neighborhood she grew up in. She has 3 sisters, they all live within 5 miles of where they grew up. Minnesota people for some reason love where they live, and it's not that they don't like other places, they don't WANT to like other places.

Maybe there's some insecurity that goes along with taking the risk of living somewhere else, or the lack of confidence they can maintain a happy lifestyle in a different part of the world...

[Wood & Creek]

Alright you guys, did the thought ever cross your mind that they are your MOTHERS!? My mom lives in Florida and I have the exact same conversations with her even though she was born and raised in MN.

Mom: Why would you ever want to live in that frozen tundra when you could live down here in tropical paradise with your family?

Me: Because I go to college here and my bf is here, and besides I prefer the forests to palm trees and the beach.

Mom: You could have gone to college down here, they have a top of the line anthropology department at the U of F and you know it. And it's BEAUTIFUL here, you can go kayaking on the ocean and there's lots of forests inland.

Me: I didn't want to go to the U of F, I wanted to go to Hamline.

Mom: Well, I just don't understand it, I don't know how you can deal with those temperatures, I could NEVER live there ever again!


So, I think the theme here is how mothers always want to be close to their babies and will say anything if it increases their chances of getting you to stay by them! Not how centric Minnesotans are. You guys are really pulling at strings to try and fit people into your stereotypes. You can't use a couple of personal examples to describe a state with tens of thousands of people.

Southerners are hicks

East coast people are rude

West coast people are superficial

People from MN are fake nice and think MN is the best place ever.

LOL it's SO stupid! Some people are comfortable with stereotypes and while there is usually some basis to them there are thousands of exceptions all of the time and it's pointless to think in boxes. People are individuals. I can sit at the bar in my little town in MN and have passionate debates with conservatives, liberals, athiests, evangelicals, hunters, vegetarians ect. social scientists, factory workers, People who love MN, and people who hate MN. And we all come from the saaaaame little town.

[JenLee]

Personally, it sounds like your Moms are what drove you both OUT of MN!

I'll go OT here also; using generational and historic information for explanations.

I have 20-something adult children, and although they both currently CHOOSE to live in the Twin Cities; I've also made sure I've cut the apron strings so they can go live where they wish. My son may always live in MN; but I expect my daughter will move out of state in the future (she's the more adventurous one).

Have you considered that the generation before mine (the Pre-Baby Boomers) may never have traveled more than 40 miles from their homes (up until WWII, that is)? Even after WWII, most of the soldiers returned to their hometowns (or home states) and settled down near family again. It sounds like both of your mothers are throwbacks to that generation; whereas most Boomers (like myself) have traveled, lived elsewhere, and then settled down where they wanted.

YOUR generation is more mobile because your ties to your family and friends aren't holding you in one spot: you use all sorts of electronic devices to stay in touch; devices that my parents couldn't have dreamed of. *I* stayed in touch with my family and friends with trips and letters and long distance phone calls; my folks thought that the phone calls were wasteful expenses (never mind the expense of travel to see them!).

My kids stay in touch with everyone with IMs, text messages, phone calls, emails, visits, etc.

How younger generations will react and interact with friends, family, neighbors and strangers will depend on the effects of the electronic communications and the size of the future population and how that affects their lives (economically, socially and psychologically).

I would suspect you won't see the "MN-centric" mindset in another 20 years because most of the "throw-backs to pre-WWII" will have died; what the mindset will be then may be even more surprising to everyone!


ETA: Wood & Creek posted while I was distractedly writing this post; she has many good thoughts in her post too. Especially the part about Moms!!!

[Movin'East]

This has been a fun back-and-forth...but please don't forward to my Mom . If you do, tell her that no matter what was said, and although I still think her (and her generation; thx JenLee) are a bit "centric", she's still "nice" in my book.

Dr. R