Apparently "Minnesota Nice" is real. Today one of my co-workers (from Wisconsin and alum of the University of Minnesota) said she could tell I'm from Minnesota because I'm so nice. Better to be nice than mean, I say.
Not everyone in the United States agrees with me. Not even the cashier at CVS Pharmacy who told me to "read the sign" yesterday when I asked if what I was purchasing rang up as the correct price (and then said, "I was right," when he showed me the sign). Nor the waiter in New York who told me that my method of payment was annoying. Nor the doctor's office receptionist who had a completely flat facial expression and didn't even try to make nice conversation with me...
I admit it, I have unrealistically high expectations. And it probably isn't healthy that internally I feel upset when strangers aren't nice to me (I even talk about it later with an incredulous tone - Can you BELIEVE what he said to me?!?).
However, I am slowly coming to grips with the "real world." Every day I learn how to be kind to those who are unkind and to forgive even strangers who I will never see again. Without the discomfort I have felt here on the east coast, I likely would never have learned these lessons.
But I still like Minnesota nice. :)
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