Minnesota Nice

Syl Jones suggests that Minnesota nice isn’t really about being “nice” at all. It’s more about keeping up appearances, maintaining the social order, and keeping people in their place.

When I was growing up, my mother (who is not from Minnesota, but may as well be) used to rant on and on about the importance of being a “nice” person as opposed to a “weird” one. “Nice” people are polite people who use place mats when they eat, who never “make trouble” or “call attention to themselves” in public, who comb their hair and put themselves together before leaving the house, who do not dress “strangely,” who drink and eat in moderation, who always do what they are told without questioning, and who never, ever volunteer information about themselves or their family members to others.

“Weird” people, on the other hand, do things like fly across the country without telling anyone, pierce as many face holes as possible, hang out with porn stars on the weekends, get 80% of their calories from cheap vodka and high alcohol content beer, and make blogs. Lots and lots of blogs.

I think I’m doing a decent job of keeping it weird.