Minnesota Nice and Cars Stuck In The Snow: It's deeper than you think

I think just about everybody who drives here in Minnesota has had an experience with a car stuck in the snow.

I want to start by saying that there is correlation here, but I'm not necessarily saying that correlation, in this case, equals causation. I am saying there's a relation.

Minnesota Nice
In Minnesota, we are very nice. There's even a name for it: Minnesota Nice. It's because, believe it or not, we are notoriously "nice." There are two things I can tell that qualify Minnesota Nice as Minnesota Nice.

(a) It's over-the-top nice, nicer-than-you-would-ever-think-of-being-to-someone nice.

(b) That niceness is given with the mentality that the interaction is only going to last for a certain amount of time.

It's the best, most pleasant interaction with a stranger that you could possibly imagine. But only so long as we both understand that once we get past the interaction, we need to part ways.

Why do we have to part ways, even after having such a wonderfully pleasant interaction?

It's because we have our own social groups and people we do business with or go to school with, etc. We've already established those groups, and you aren't necessarily invited to those. Unless you meet someone who has some sort of criteria that you feel you just absolutely need in your life, you're probably going to just carry on.

Well then why were we so damn "nice" to each other when we ran into each other?

I'm going to suggest to you that the "Ultra Nice" interaction is akin to, and may even have something to do with Cars Stuck in the Snow. There's correlation, and I'm saying that there may even be some causation.

Cars Stuck In The Snow
Everyone in Minnesota who drives has had a car stuck in the snow. I don't care what kind of car you drive. I've seen the biggest trucks get stuck in the snow. There's crazy weather here in Minnesota. The Winter Wonderland that it is dictates things like 8 ft. drifts, and everything is slippery, and there are cars stuck in the snow. That's just one of the things that's going to happen.

But anyone who has seen a car stuck in the snow in Minnesota, has also seen complete strangers get out of their car or walk off the street to push the car that's stuck in the snow. It's happened to me on multiple occasions, and I've been on both ends: pushing and needing the push.

This is an extraordinary act of kindness. A complete stranger is going to get behind a car, where it's messy, snow is being kicked up by the tires, when it's already cold outside, in a completely undesirable situation. And this stranger is going to get behind the other stranger's car, and, "by golly: we're gonna push you're car out of the snow."

But that interaction, after we get your car out, is done.

We've got this extraordinary act of kindness. Everyone is familiar and involved with it. In fact, sometimes you can get up to eight people pushing on one car, with everyone getting along swimmingly to complete this relatively straightforward task. But the interaction stops after we get the car out.

I think there is a correlation between that and Minnesota Nice in itself.

Does that mean we're nice to other people only because we believe some day we will need them to be nice to us?

No.

But I am saying it's a lot easier for us to believe that we'll need the help. If you've seen even the best drivers in the biggest trucks get stuck in the snow, you kinda start to believe that maybe it could happen to you too.

The Self-Serving Factor
There's also a self-serving factor to consider here. If you're the car stuck behind the car stuck in the snow on a narrow road, what option do you have except to push the car in front of you? I suppose you could offer encouragement, but that seems a bit cynical in that situation.

What's the self-serving factor in being ultra-nice to someone then?

Give it a try. You might be surprised.

Downtown at Target, and I just saw Eric Eskola without a scarf. I told him he's awesome.

I saw him going into Target, and I was so excited about it that I stopped on 11th and Nicollet, en route back to my apartment, to tweet it. As I'm tweeting away, as we do in 2011 etc., Eric walks by again. He flippin' walked past me again, for goodness sake!!! He’s carrying bread and a 12-pack of Diet Dr. Pepper that he bought from Target. I walk diagonally toward his path and ask, "Are you Eric Eskola?" I think he may have thought I was a little crazy for a moment. I was all sunglasses-and-bearded-up, approachin' homie as though we go back like seats in a Cadillac or somethin', so I can maybe understand his perspective.

But he says, "yes." And homie doesn't even have a scarf on for goodness sake - Just a red spring jacket - No scarf. You know it's spring time when Eric Eskola doesn't even have a scarf on. Anyway, Eric is honest with me about who he is, and he says, "yes."

And I say, "You're awesome."

And he perceives me to be a fan, which I am, but he says, "Well, thanks. What's your name?" But I can tell he doesn't really want to know my name, because he's hesitant like he might still think I'm completely out of my mind. I say, "My name's Joe, but that doesn't even matter right now. You're awesome. Just keep being awesome. I'm gonna go do some homework and you keep being awesome." And then I turned east on 11th toward my home.

You know what? Eric Eskola is awesome. He was given the opportunity to work, and he did. He worked very hard for a long time and did some really good things with his opportunity. He engaged people all over Minnesota and contributed greatly to how involved Minnesotans are in our political process. Sure, he may have been given some advantages that the average bloke may not have had. Sure, he may be kind of a quirky fellow with his scarves, etc.

But who isn’t?

Eric Eskola is someone who acted in his own circle of people and worked really hard, even though he couldn’t always see immediate results of his work. And the work he did ended up radiating well outside his immediate circle. And that’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Some of those other schmoes on Nicollet and 11th don’t know that Eric Eskola is awesome. But I do. I went home and did some homework. Because I want to get on my own level of Eric Eskola awesomeness.