Automotive, Gatherings, Uncategorized

Minnesota Bus Nice

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It was the first day of the fair. There was a new Park `n Ride at Allianz Field and by 8 a.m., the line waiting for the bus was pretty long, stretching from the volunteer pop-up tent, all the way to the stadium itself, about 2 blocks long.

When the bus arrived, instead of stopping at the tent (where they usually stop at the other Park `n Rides), the bus turned the corner and pulled into a long existing parking bay, about a half block from where the line started. It was far enough away that the folks in the beginning of the line probably wouldn’t have made it on the bus if people started boarding where the bus was stopped.

Then an amazing thing happened. People closer to the bus door begin to call and beckon to the folks at the front.  So those folks headed up the block toward the bus, making a big loop.  No one who was closer to the bus made a fuss or tried to push their way on.  They all waited for the line to get on the bus in the order they had been waiting.

I know that we sometimes scoff about Minnesota Nice, but I saw it first hand and it was wonderful to see. It gave me an extra glow as we headed off from the Park `n Ride towards the Fair.

Witnessed any extra special Nice recently?

50 thoughts on “Minnesota Bus Nice”

  1. I was saddened by YA’s accident, VS. I join others in wishing her a speedy return to full health.

    I’m not sure this story is about Minnesota Nice, but maybe it is. My daughter and her family went to a St Paul Saints game three nights ago. The Saints played poorly. When it was clear they would lose, most fans left to go home. Those who stayed were full of beer and attitude. They subjected the visiting team, the Chicago Hot Dogs, to insults. My grandson is learning sports. He was appalled by the shabby sportsmanship from Saints fans. Liam went down to the visiting team’s bench as the Hot Dogs filed out. He told each one as they passed, “Good game! Good game, guys!”

    One of the Hot Dogs asked, “Hey kid, would you like a bat?” He gave Liam a slightly scuffed up bat that had been used in the game. My grandson was gobsmacked, and he now sleeps with his arms around that bat.

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      1. Thanks for asking, Jacque. I think my son-in-law had doubts about the move, but he has been delighted. We’re crossing fingers about his job hunt. My daughter could not be happier. She just finished her third visit to the Fair. We will be meeting soon with friends from our old neighborhood. Liam asks hourly about when his new school starts and seems delighted about everything. Even the old Labrador retriever seems happy to be here. 😊

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  2. I can only see MNnice from afar, but I was pleased to see in the Luverne paper over the past weeks stories about a coalition in town to promote dental care and other necessary services to county residents in need.

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  3. Another of our friend W’s helpers is a mutual friend, a son of a woman who was once our housemate. He was able to take W to La Crosse twice this week for dental appointments. W tells us how gentle he is helping with things like getting out of the car, and he seems to always go “above and beyond.”
    More later…

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  4. Well, despite my insistence that we eat aleady prepared food out of the freezer, Husband got all the pork ribs out of the freezer for a ribfest. Serendipitously, I found a strange example of MN nice on a package of babyback ribs. They come from Windom, MN, and the farm that produced the pork consulted with Temple Grandin in the building of their barns to make the setting as humane as possible for the animals.

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        4. She’s also the author of quite a few books. I haven’t read all of them but those that I have read are very good.

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        4. i must admit i have thought once or twice that humane treatment of beings raised exclusively to be killed and eaten was a bit odd but my preference just the same

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  5. OT-the main objective of my weekend has been accomplished. We made 46 jars of pesto, each with 2 very firmly packed cups of basil in each jar. All are in the freezer in pint jars. Whew!

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    1. I put on a recording of Respighi’s Pines of the Appian Way as I processed the last batch, the Roman Legions pounding the pavement in triumph as I put the lid on the last jar.

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      1. It is a standing freezer with 5 shelves in the door that hold 7 pint jars each. The rest of the pesto is in the Ball jar box on an interior freezer shelf.

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        2. Well, I had to move a few things out of the door shelves, and the box of jars have oxtails on top of them.

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        3. nice
          all my refrigerator freezer options a filled to the max
          maybe being empty nesters i can cut back

          daughter in london was asking what to make in mass quantity to make life simple for the week to come

          she seems taken with england’s curry prowess
          i told her to learn that

          i also told her a daily water boiling for pasta rice and veggies is not all bad
          kind of therapy for me

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  6. i was at the fair and a guy was taking a picture of his daughter with the mega ferris wheel as a background.
    my grandson was mesmerized by the light show that is a big part of the ferris wheel and we were stopped there just to watch for a while.
    a person next to us asked him if he’d like to have them take a picture that would include them both together . the man said he already had and explained that someone had made that exact offer a minute ago and he had already taken them up on it. and he quite sincerely added “minnesota nice”
    i realized that maybe not everywhere acts this way and congratulated us as a whole for being the kind of place where this happens

    my grandson has wonderful red curley haircand i’ll bet we get 100 compliments a day at the fair on how wonderful his hair is.

    one of the people yesterday turned out to be my sisters former best friend from grade school and another girl she grew up with and knew well.
    ari and i were standing with ari in my arms and one of them simply tapped me on the shoulder and said “i just had to tell you he has great hair” i said thanks and my daughter turned around to soak up the attention on her “nugget” and was greeted by a bright recognition of the friendship from years gin by. her best friend had a daughter who is now 9 and was a striking beauty. they agreed to look each other up on facebook and reconnect. two minutes of gleeful smiles and quick updates and a promise to get together soon. all because of minnesota nice

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  7. First full day as nursemaid went pretty well. Although we did have to have a discussion about those magic words “please” and “thank you.”.

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        1. YA takes after me. She had some wooziness and nausea yesterday morning after she took the first of her strong meds and decided she’d rather have a little more pain than wooziness and nauseous. So she hasn’t had any since.

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  8. Very sorry to hear about YA’s mishap, vs. I wish her a speedy recovery, for the sake of both of you. This must be the season of broken ankles. The daughter or one of my good friends from SIU just fell off a ladder yesterday while harvesting pears in her back yard, and broke her left ankle.

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      1. health food stores or specialty shop or amazon
        offer arnica to heal trauma and bruises
        get 30c and or 200 c ( this is the most popular homeopathic choice)
        followed by bryonia 30 c or 200c to heal sprains

        couldn’t hurt… if you do this do not touch the little bb sized infused sugar pills with your fingers
        pour them into medicine cap and pour into your mouth

        it really helps your body heal

        like aloe on cut and burns

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    1. Yes, good luck, Ben. The wheat harvest is in full swing here, a little late. I think the sunflowers are late, too, but they don’t get harvested until after it freezes. Our tomatoes and peppers are inching along to red ripeness. Our dahlias are just starting to bloom.

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      1. Thanks. It’s not like I’ll go bust, it will just mean more expense to dry, lower yields, and overall less income. May not get some loans paid off as quick as hoped, so just more interest. But it’s only money. 🙂

        If you’re interested in details, keep reading, otherwise move along. 😉
        I have an app showing Growing Degree Days (GDD or sometimes GDU “Units”). This year we’re 850 units behind 2018 and 730 behind the 10 year average. Those are totals since April. And since my corn wasn’t planted until June 1, subtract 300 units that I missed in
        April and May.
        The Definition of GDU is the daily high temp plus the daily low temp, divide by 2 and subtract 50. And don’t count anything about 86 degrees because a corn plant shuts down above that.
        So a day of 75 high, plus 50 low = 125 / 2 = 62.5 – 50 = 12 GDU for the day.

        I did some research on how many GDD are needed to reach maturity on field corn. There are so many variables, there are not many firm numbers, but in general, it takes 2400 to reach maturity, which in this case, maturity is defined as the black layer in the kernel getting down to the tip of the kernel; meaning all the dough and milk has become solid in the actual kernel.
        It takes roughly 120 GDU from planting to emergence. (Assuming good soil conditions and planting done appropriately.)

        Looking at my corn today, it’s in the milk stage; it’s like sweet corn. So it needs to move beyond the milk into the dough stage, then the black layer will start at the top of the kernel as it dries and move down to the tip.
        A freeze before that will result in a smaller kernel of higher moisture which will have to be dried which results in lower test weight once dried.
        Corn dries faster in the field before the stalk freezes. Once it freezes, it won’t move moisture out through the plant anymore.

        It’s all rather interesting!

        And honestly, I don’t know how this works in soybeans. They have pods (although again, it’s short so not as many as you’d hope) and the pods have beans in them. But they also need to fill out and mature and dry down. A wet mushy bean won’t go through the combine. And the wetter it is when when it freezes, the smaller it becomes. Although beans react to the length of daylight and adjust themselves accordingly. So they’ll typically reach maturity – or close too it – if the frost is in a normal time of year.

        Again, all interesting!

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  10. I just read an article in the Fargo Forum about a woman near Duluth who raises goats, and our own Barb from Blackhoof was quoted in the article and is one of the woman’s mentors.

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    1. i was in the goat barn yesterday thinking about the goat phase of my life when bib was talking to me about goats for my young daughter who is now heading off to college and not interested in that aspect of life any longer. we were also killing time while ari did his crash and burn for an hour yesterday and toured the travel trailers and mobile homes remembering how excited the kids would get making sure the bunk beds were there to fit everyone and get dibs on their spots in the trailer. the first year we came home without one they were devastated, they always looked as if the trailer was coming home without that night. they are still a little angry that i led them on. parenting is an open discussion and my kids will discuss my tactics for years to come in sure.

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    2. when in the fair the goats went under the header of meat goat or dairy goat or meat and dairy goat. i had to explain that some goats make goat cheese and some are just for eating.
      we never talked about that in the cow barn or sheep barn or pig barn but i imagine they have had a chance to think on their own .
      james tailor’s 3 legged pet pig story may be worth looking for on youtube right now

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  11. Tried to post this yesterday, but it didn’t make it for some reason.

    A Minnesota Nice story from earlier this year…I had my car in to have the coolant system looked at. The warning light kept going on, even though the car was not overheating. The shop told me it was a faulty sensor and they had to order a part for it, and gave the car back to me in the meantime. So the day after I pick up the car, I’m driving around doing errands, on my way to the compost site, and I notice there’s steam coming out from underneath the hood. The temp gauge still looks normal. So I pull the car into the McDonald’s parking lot on University Avenue and shut it off. I figure I’ll let it cool down a bit and see if I can figure out what’s going on. A guy comes over and asks if I noticed the steam coming out from under the hood, and I say yeah, I saw it, and I explain that I just had it checked out so I don’t know what the problem is. So he offers to take a look at it and has me pop the hood open. And the problem is that the radiator is uncapped – the cap is just lying next to the open coolant reservoir, and all the antifreeze has boiled off. So the guy offers to go get some antifreeze for me, and goes off in search of a store with an automotive department, with a bored-looking teenager in his car. And I get a hamburger and an order of fries from McDonald’s and have a nice lunch there in the parking lot, and presently he comes back and has this open jug of antifreeze. He says he was trying to get someone in the auto parts store to sell him just enough antifreeze to get me home, because he didn’t want to buy a whole jug. And a woman overheard him and handed him this open jug of antifreeze and said “I just topped mine off and I don’t need the rest of this – just take it.” And she wouldn’t take any money for it.

    After putting the antifreeze in, I couldn’t really tell if it was leaking or if it was just kinda wet from boiling over, so I drove it directly to the shop that left the cap off and left it there till Monday, and they fixed it then.

    So thanks to a couple of helpful people, I didn’t really have to deal with my emergency. I just had lunch and waited for somebody else to solve my problem. Only in Minnesota.

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