Questions about home construction in the Mid-West (Sioux Falls, Mitchell: to rent, loft)

[windtimber]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Another important custom is "the wave". This is done when two vehicles are approaching each other on any rural road and needs to be done whether you know the other party or not. While driving with your hand on top of the steering wheel, you extend your index finger up high enough for the other party to see. A reputation of not accomplishing this task will not set well in your community.

Practice your wave before you arrive as timing is everything. Start too late and your intended target misses your salutation and your crass failure to acknowledge a neighbor will dog you for days. Start too early and the wave is completed before a mutual acknowledgment is begun. The delay between your wave and the acknowledgment places you in the dreaded "wave vacuum" and related social discomfort.

You might want to consult Howard Mohr and How to Speak Minnesotan for complete MinnDak waving etiquette.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by windtimber

Practice your wave before you arrive as timing is everything. Start too late and your intended target misses your salutation and your crass failure to acknowledge a neighbor will dog you for days. Start too early and the wave is completed before a mutual acknowledgment is begun. The delay between your wave and the acknowledgment places you in the dreaded "wave vacuum" and related social discomfort.

You might want to consult Howard Mohr and How to Speak Minnesotan for complete MinnDak waving etiquette.

You are obviously a wave expert. Heed the information fatman66.

[fatman66]

hmmmm... The etiquette surrounding this wave sounds very complicated. I may practice the wave here but I have a feeling that it might be mistaken give someone the bird. Any other customs I need to be aware of?

[rjl78]

Use your index finger and not your middle finger.

[MJ1986]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Every region has it's verbal lingo. In SD a soda is called a pop. One of our favorite appetizers is chislic which is totally unknown in any state that I've visited outside of our border states. Many people here call masonite, hardboard. I call masonite just what it is, masonite. The term hardboard does sound like it's encompassing several types of siding.

When you come to SD there are several local customs you will have to get used to.

In all small towns when you pull up to a store in the cold of winter, you usually leave your vehicle running so that you have a warm car to get into. In most other parts of the country to do this means you will be walking home.

Another important custom is "the wave". This is done when two vehicles are approaching each other on any rural road and needs to be done whether you know the other party or not. While driving with your hand on top of the steering wheel, you extend your index finger up high enough for the other party to see. A reputation of not accomplishing this task will not set well in your community.

I loved your post! I know "the wave"...having grown up in a town of 250. My mom told me that the guys just use their index finger, but women wave with all of their fingers.

Fatman66 is considering a move to Sioux Falls, so he won't see any of that... not even in the rural areas outside of SF.

As for leaving your car running while going inside a convenience store, I wouldn't recommend that in Sioux Falls . I still see people do it though here. Even though I grew up in a small town, I always take the "better to be safe, than sorry".

Even when I go back to my hometown, I still lock my car...and I tell my parents to lock their house! They leave it unlocked during the day, and lock it when they go to bed. Even small towns have criminals. And I've seen it in my hometown. You don't hear about it unless you live there.

Just my opinion .

You hear about people in SF having their cars stolen, or items stolen out of it, or their homes robbed because their door are unlocked...
And every time, I think "DUH!" You can never be too careful.

[jmgg]

Originally Posted by MJ1986

I loved your post! I know "the wave"...having grown up in a town of 250. My mom told me that the guys just use their index finger, but women wave with all of their fingers.

Fatman66 is considering a move to Sioux Falls, so he won't see any of that... not even in the rural areas outside of SF.

As for leaving your car running while going inside a convenience store, I wouldn't recommend that in Sioux Falls . I still see people do it though here. Even though I grew up in a small town, I always take the "better to be safe, than sorry".

Even when I go back to my hometown, I still lock my car...and I tell my parents to lock their house! They leave it unlocked during the day, and lock it when they go to bed. Even small towns have criminals. And I've seen it in my hometown. You don't hear about it unless you live there.

Just my opinion .

You hear about people in SF having their cars stolen, or items stolen out of it, or their homes robbed because their door are unlocked...
And every time, I think "DUH!" You can never be too careful.

Notice that I said small towns. The bigger cities, especially SF and RC, have grown and changed to the point that you'd be walking home a lot if you left you're car running outside of a convenience store.

I wouldn't think twice about it in most all the small towns of our state.

[DannyBanany]

I live in Rapid City and I often leave my car running at the convenience store. I see a lot of other people do it too. Granted, it's always one on the Southside or in a residential area. I'd never leave my car running at a truck stop or the Exxon by I-90!

[Jammie]

We still do it here, too during the wintertime. Although it's probably not a wise thing to do anymore.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by windtimber

Practice your wave before you arrive as timing is everything. Start too late and your intended target misses your salutation and your crass failure to acknowledge a neighbor will dog you for days. Start too early and the wave is completed before a mutual acknowledgment is begun. The delay between your wave and the acknowledgment places you in the dreaded "wave vacuum" and related social discomfort.

You might want to consult Howard Mohr and How to Speak Minnesotan for complete MinnDak waving etiquette.

I am not too familiar with the wave, but then again, I spent most of my time within a 25 mile radius of Sioux Falls. I could picture it in the smaller towns maybe an hour or two out of the Sioux Falls metro.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by jmgg

Notice that I said small towns. The bigger cities, especially SF and RC, have grown and changed to the point that you'd be walking home a lot if you left you're car running outside of a convenience store.

I wouldn't think twice about it in most all the small towns of our state.

I leave my car run in the small town in the Sioux Falls area and do not have any problems with doing so and it is common for people to have their car running when going into the gas station or grocery store to pick up a few items. If I was in Sioux Falls, no way.

My parents usually lock their doors when they are gone or in bed and so do I. But it drives me nuts when they sometimes leave the key in the ignition and leave their cars unlocked. I lock my car and do so even in the small town. I got into the habit of doing so when going to college in Vermillion and having my car sit in the dorm parking lot (and hearing about a few instances of people breaking into others' cars and stealing electronics, etc.). If I am travelling to a larger city or outside of the Midwest, I keep everything or about everything in the trunk in nothing in the main part to reduce the potential for a theif to break into the car.