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Coming to Minnesota for the Rally? You need to know this

What's this soda that's mentioned? What does it have to do with the pop we drink???

You could also feel at home by starting sentences with the word "So" and ending them as a question with the word "then".

For example:

"So, you rode your motorcycle here then?"
 
And be sure to take it with.

Voni
who was educated in Minnesota at a young age
 
Our youngest son and his wife lived there for 11 years.Every Sunday they would hang their Bears banner out,and the neighbors would close the shades.
 
I like that. This past summer was my first trip to Minnesota, VBR3 in Duluth. Met some great folks there and during my travels, some of those expressions ring very true. Looking forward to St. Paul next summer.
 
As a fan of the Prey novels and Virgil Flowers novels by John Sandford (John Crown) it would be cool if there was a ride that encompassed some of the towns that various scenes from those novels took place. Just an idea.
 
As a fan of the Prey novels and Virgil Flowers novels by John Sandford (John Crown) it would be cool if there was a ride that encompassed some of the towns that various scenes from those novels took place. Just an idea.

That's a great idea, I know when I cruise through that area I always find myself thinking about that too! (Waiting for his Porsche to blow by me at 100 mph)
 
Voni you post was interesting and informative, but let me add a bit. Alright more than a bit.


BE NICE

You can behave any way you desire. What that means is determined by how your parents raised you and the extent of your legal resources. So do not feel some pernicious demand to 'be nice'; unless you want to be. You see if you are new to the state and Minnesotans don't know your parents they will deal with whatever you do just like anyone anywhere else would. (If they know your parents they will say something like 'Mika what would you father think if he saw you... But they probably don't know your parents so don't worry)

Minnesotans will be nice, at least to Rally participants and other outsiders. I am not certain if it is basic to the nature of Minnesotans or a learned behavior. Minnesota Nice is often confused with Minnesota Ice, a perception that Minnesotans are a congenial but cold people. In truth they are caring but cautious people who fear they will offend. The caution can be seen as cold and as Minnesota Ice. You're wrong in thinking that. Minnesotans don't want to offend you more so they won't tell you. Really they will be fascinated by the MOA members and want to just hug them but Minnesotans aren't huggers and with all sorts of new laws they don't dare pinch your checks and tell you how cute you are like their aunt Martha would have don't cha know.

INVITATIONS

The article had the basics of the rules of invitations down but it was a waste of ink. You were invited at least three times and so you are welcome. A note of caution about the welcome. My guess is you refused more than twice. In doing so you may have created you first grounds for experiencing Minnesota Ice. Don't worry or take offense and complicate things more. All will be taken care of when we get to the long Minnesotan Goodbye.

HUGGING

Minnesotans hug and can be extremely warm and endearing. It would take a cultural anthropologist to explain the rules and their genesis. I am not one so if you are a hugger have at it. Minnesotan statements of undying affection, as in most regions of the world in which I have been in, have more to do with how long you have know the person and or the consumption of liquor.

REGIONAL VINACULAR

I understand a bit of French and have traveled in France. I do not speak any intelligible French. I received the best advice from a French driver assigned to me on a business trip as I struggled to tell him where I wanted to be taken.
"Say it in English bub" he barked at me with a thick New York accent.
"Oh you speak English"
"No"
He did not speak a lick of English and did not want to hear me bastardize his beloved French. We spoke our native tongues for the entire time we were together and got along fine.

If you slip into Minnesotan or Midwestern vernacular because you have absorbed it fine. If you follow up a self deprecating Minnesotan?s 'don't cha know' with a 'yah sure' everyone will let it slide. If you learned you vernacular watching the movie Fargo expect to feel Minnesota ICE.

Ole and Lena

Ole and Lena jokes are not exclusive to Minnesota and can be heard across the upper Midwest. At one time the St. Paul phone book contained 45,000 Johnsons. I have no idea how many it would list if it still existed. In those days everyone had an Ole and Lena joke. They ranged from cute to down right raunchy. The study and learning of them can be fun; however, in the 21st century the Rules of Invitations apply to them. Let your host tell at least three of them before you offer up any you have learned. Pulling out the Ole and Lena card to early can turn a Minnesota Nice cultural learning experience into frigid Minnesota Ice or worse yet a barrage of Ole and Lean stories ripe with double meaning, hidden insults and raucous punch lines.

GOOD BYES

Long good byes are a regional norm that Minnesotans have co-opted and have turned into an art form. A five minute good bye only works at the airport when your aunt was overheard saying you would be changing flights at MSP and the person who heard that told their friend, who wrote cousin in some Mid West state and they in turn sent a message on facebook to a Minnesotan who then drove to MSP and chased you through the airport explaining who they were as they welcomed you to Minnesota while saying good bye at the same time, just prior to being told by airport security to leave MSP and drive back to Duluth where they belong. Five minutes is just not enough time for a proper goodbye.

In truth true Minnesotans have already started saying goodbye to 2014 Rally attendees. A heart felt invitation to come visit is always mixed with anticipation and angst that you will leave; therefore the goodbye is an integral part of the invitation to come. Many 2014 Rally attendees will experience the Minnesota Surprise Hello as a result.

With so much time between the giving and acceptance of having the 2014 Rally in Minnesota a curious process will take place. The joy of the acceptance of the invitation will lead to planning of all sorts. This will be mixed with the realization that at some point the rally will end and you will leave. This creates all sorts of consternation and angst.

Will they like it? Will they like what we planed? Will they like our food? What will they say about us when they go? Oh they are leaving. There leaving? They just got here. Are they rested enough? Did they pack everything? I hate it when they leave stuff. We will have to have boxes to pack it in and send it to them. More things to put on the to do list for when they come and go. The taught process spirals on and on. At some point a true Minnesotan will be angry with you for how you behaved ? reacted ? or said during the 2014 Rally before you even get here. To get over their anger they will start planning the next three invitations and the where/what of that future rally. This cycle of thought and angst will repeat itself over and over.

The net result is that when you roll up on you bike next July they will be totally surprised. 'Look their here!' someone will exclaim. They will joyfully run and hug you with a warm Midwestern hug that is unlike any other in the world; then catch themselves and step back (at least six inches farther back than the distance the nuns wanted between you and the girl at the dance), look at you and say 'What took you so long?'

For the rest of the time at the rally you will be treated to fly-over-land hospitality. Until Sunday that is. Your new found Minnesotan friends will have breakfast with you and ask you about your plans for the trip home one more time. Do not confuse this with Minnesota Ice we are entering the beginings of the formal phase of the long goodbye. Once breakfast is done it truly begins. They will help you pack. Some will follow you to to the fairground gates and wave as you head out.

If you head north on Snelling to Hwy 36 you may see people in the Har Mar Mall parking lot sitting in lawn chairs eating donuts and drinking coffee. They will wave to you as you pass. You see they heard about the rally and they are sharing in the long Minnesotan goodbye. It is a group activity to be shared with the community.

If your plans take you south on Snelling to I94 your Minnesotan friends may ride along. Heading east? They may tag along till just before you cross the St Croix into Wisconsin. While you cross the bridge they will take to the Afton exit and maybe get an ice cream cone. Heading west on 94? They may help you until downtown Minneapolis where they will get off, head to one of the office towers, up to the observation deck to see if they can find and watch you with one of those coin operated binoculars and then down to ground level and over to Brits Pub and their deck for pint before heading home.




Ian, MINNESLOWTA and Minnesota driving is an entire post in itself.
 
Too True.

Voni,
I loved the Canadian mugging. It totally reminded me of the time my Gramma got mugged and asked for change so she could take the bus home and get a cup of coffee. And he gave it to her!
 
Soda or Pop

What's this soda that's mentioned? What does it have to do with the pop we drink???

You could also feel at home by starting sentences with the word "So" and ending them as a question with the word "then".

For example:

"So, you rode your motorcycle here then?"

Now that I am in mid life this reminds me of my Grandmother. she lived about 150 mile from our family, at 10 yrs of age didn't know there was a difference. we walked 1 1/2 miles to the post office from her home. Then to the drug store,
she said she had a little extra cash and we (my brother & I) got get a soda. I was thing of a bottle of coke when I ordered my soda. What I got was a fountain soda. about 8 inches high and 3 inches in dia. at the top.

Coke in a bottle was called POP, lessen learned the hard way.:banghead
 
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