Vagablonde Bombchelle

My favorite comment about Minnesotans was from an ...

2012-05-07T22:40:21.015-05:00

My favorite comment about Minnesotans was from an Indian guy from CA I met in a pub: "Minnesotans will give you directions to everywhere but their home." I lived in the state for almost 16 years and agree that it is extremely difficult to forge long-lasting deep friendships with anyone if you are not originally from the state. I think most of it stems from the largely Scandanavian culture, but it's a bit more than that, too. The Minnesotan "vortex of xenophobia" cuts across almost all ethnicities who hail from the lake state. It's like there's a baptism they go through that tells them not to talk very long to anyone they didn't go to grade school with. I've made a handful of good friends along the way, but I went out a lot, so don't give me the "why don't you get over your ego and try to meet people" speech. It's the first thing they'll do - make it seem like something's wrong with *you*, not all of them. It's very effective because most rational people will encounter the situation and think "maybe I'm doing something wrong." Take it from a veteran, you're not. It's them. Part of it can also be attributed to the insular "we are all awesome" delusional mentality that afflicts almost everyone, too. For example, there are a ton of blonde women in the state, but almost all are plain Jane vanilla, not Nordic supermodels. That would be fine, but they virtually all think they're the latter, even while in the standard MN Monday-through-Saturday flip-flops, ugly black boots & frumpy dumper outfits. The guys aren't any different - they also think they're God's gift to women. Everyone thinks they're too good for everyone else (unless they went to grade school together), so it's no wonder they hardly meet anyone else in a dating sense - especially people from out of town. My God, the audacity! It's also why the idiot waiter or valet who made poor educational choices acts like he's better than you. "I'm not supposed to be here" or "it's just temporary" even though I've seen you there for the last ten years. Having said all that, the native Minnesotans (who you'll see are the *only* ones who get defensive about the subject) are correct when they say, "If you don't like it, leave." There's no way in hell you're ever going to change a whole group of people, so you either have to suck it up, or get out. It took a long time due to job choices, family, and kids, but we're finally doing the latter. The winter might get to some people, but I'm from North Dakota, so I can handle the weather if necessary. The people? Liberal, but not diverse. Stand in homogenous lockstep or be shunned. No thanks. I'll meet more people in San Francisco in 16 weeks than I met in 16 years in Minnesota. Good riddens. And to think I never got around to talking about how freaking FAT everyone is, too. To quote Anna Wintour during a visit to the Land O' Lakes: "everyone looks like little houses here."

I agree MN nice is over-rated. I'd rather be b...

2012-05-02T22:35:29.301-05:00

I agree MN nice is over-rated. I'd rather be blunt. Go back to wherever you came from(rat infested NYC or allegedly "pollution free" Colorado) With a pompous attitude and irritating personality, there is no way to will fit in anywhere else.

Good list Chelle! Wish you 2 didn't have to le...

2012-02-13T14:23:53.283-06:00

Good list Chelle! Wish you 2 didn't have to learn about the Superficial Digital Flexor & all the canine Drs. through our pup niece. +_+ The Zmeister is the strongest in the land.

people are who they are, being from minnesota does...

2011-12-17T14:43:47.531-06:00

people are who they are, being from minnesota does not make them "minnesotan" i live here and sure some off my friends have the minnesotan qualities but most do not. Its just a stereotype you all have. if i were to take people randomly from all over america and put them on a island and nobody said where they were from i bet almost all of you coudn't point out who the minnesotans were or any other part of the country for that matter

Psh, you people who aren't hardcore enough to ...

2011-10-23T21:25:17.705-05:00

Psh, you people who aren't hardcore enough to take Minnesota should just leave. We don't need you.

PS: There are a ton of lists that put MN on top for standard of living. And we DO have some of the best schools. Test scores don't lie. I LOVE Minnesota and will always defend my beloved home state against idiots such as yourself.

I've lived in over 10 places in my life as an ...

2011-08-30T21:46:26.796-05:00

I've lived in over 10 places in my life as an Air Force dependent and Minnesota is by far the worst place I've lived. People here are two faced, moody and rude. Minnesota nice is being too nice. I went to college in Florida, but if you dare to say one thing about Florida here, people tear you apart. Minnesota is the worst place I've lived or visited. I've been here a year and a half. Came here for a job since there are a lot of openings, but no wonder, no one wants to live here. The end. Great article.

Minnesota is a beautiful state that is wasted on M...

2011-08-23T19:55:45.103-05:00

Minnesota is a beautiful state that is wasted on Minnesotans. Minnesotans complain about the taxes, but the only time I ever heard of protests (at least pre-tea party) in MN was when the govt. was considering raising the cost of a fishing license, for Heaven's sake!

Passive-aggressive is just a fancy way to say asshole.

Luckily, you can meet a nice person here, it just won't be a native MInnesotan. My wife has lived in MN since college, but she never "became" a Minnesotan, thank God. If you are considering dating someone, and wish to find out if they are Minnesotan (and the brain-damaged elocution doesn't tip you off, just ask the person if fishing is more important than God and Mom, and the answer will tell you for sure what you have.

Minnesota fuckin sucks. It is the worst place in t...

2011-08-19T16:35:11.904-05:00

Minnesota fuckin sucks. It is the worst place in the world. At first I thought was there something wrong with myself. But no it was just that Minnesotans fuckin sucks.

I have lived in MN for a year and I would say that...

2011-08-19T16:18:17.063-05:00

I have lived in MN for a year and I would say that Minnesotans are close minded. They do not know how to talk to new people. I was in high school and the kids there made me felt like a stranger. Living there is the lowest point of my life.

You don't understand how people could kill ani...

2011-08-10T20:58:21.911-05:00

You don't understand how people could kill animals, yet you long for 4 pounds of pepperoni on a deli sandwich?

I'm from Minnesota. I love our beautiful women, and that they outnumber men almost 2-1. I love my group of friends (clique) and all the out-of-staters that have infiltrated it. I love that we take care of our children and have great schools. Our Highways are still better to drive on than the 101. I love having conversations with people from out of state. I love making new friends. I love living here, but also loved living in other states, and canada. I love the cold, but its because I'm not of southern european decent. Go figure that people with lineage from northern Europe would like the cold weather.
The one thing I noticed was that most people who commented already had their minds made up about their hatred for our descent state. And go figure, most people miss where they're from, and think things were much better for them there. New Yorkers made me feel like a nobody, Californians made me feel like a bumpkin, and Most of the mountain time zone is very closed off to outsiders. If you hate Minnesota, Email me at Mr.jchips@gmail.com, Come here, and I'll show you a good time. You can stay at my place, and we'll go out tubing, or fishing, or to a concert, or sporting event, or snowmobiling, or a bonfire with a bunch of us sh#tty Minnesotans. Yes I like living here, but most of you all seem to love where you were born and raised too.

~John Roland, proud Minnesotan

P.S. I'm dead serious about vacationing here... It is a good time.

NASCAR race Funeral in New Orleans (not own) Bapti...

2011-07-24T11:47:50.089-05:00

NASCAR race
Funeral in New Orleans (not own)
Baptist church, where you are the ONLY white people (preferably in the south)...bonus if there is an adult baptism
Visit a country not recognized by the US/UN (surrender passport etc.)
Unexpectedly fear for life

http://mostminnesotansnotnice.blogspot.com/

2011-06-18T16:31:18.895-05:00

http://mostminnesotansnotnice.blogspot.com/

I wish I had discovered this post before I moved h...

2011-06-18T16:26:43.566-05:00

I wish I had discovered this post before I moved here. It took me 8 months to figure out it wasn't just me. The people here just suck.

Coming from a Minnesotan, born and raised..Minneso...

2011-06-11T16:06:09.562-05:00

Coming from a Minnesotan, born and raised..Minnesota is amazing. Hunting? The animals are overpopulated. We EAT them. We don't just leave them for prizes. Would you rather them starve in the Winter? Freeze? Get hit by a car? Didn't think so. Our winters are cold. If we didn't like it, We'd move. They are plenty of people who aren't blonde. Minnesotans are nice. Would you rather us be mean? I know a lot of people who speak their minds. Its a stereotype. Our food,is amazing. Wild rice soup-THE BEST. We have deli's, tons of pizza. Pasta. Cliques? EVERYWHERE has cliques. Its not just Minnesota. People from anywhere tend to stick with their friends, people they're comfortable with. People that move here from Colorado, instantly made tons of friends. Shut up, and get your facts straight until you come and live here. Don't listen to all the freakin stereotypes. Crazies.

I just want to say your article is wonderful the c...

2011-06-10T06:44:35.574-05:00

I just want to say your article is wonderful the clarity in your post is just nice and i can assume you are an expert on this subject thanks.

Regards,
Kevin.

these line are true the Anton Chekhov tell us very...

2011-06-10T06:34:03.561-05:00

these line are true the Anton Chekhov tell us very simple format that when you are happy you don't see what weather is just enjoy it.Lovely lines "People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy."

Why, thank you everyone, for bashing your fellow c...

2011-06-07T18:36:55.470-05:00

Why, thank you everyone, for bashing your fellow citizens so terribly. I myself am from Minnesota, and it's true that you do indeed have some valid points. However, I find it utterly ridiculous that you'd go so low as to call us pathetic. Please explain to me why it's necessary that the smart kids all go to a prestigious school just because they've been labeled as the braniac? If you go to Harvard or Yale, you're paying for the name of the school, not the education you receive. If you can't survive the winter, I could just as easily retaliate by saying that you're weak. Yes, many, MANY of our inhabitants are cold and not friendly. But outside of the Twin Cities, that's not true. I personally live extremely close to the cities, and near some of Minnesota's wealthiest counties, where there tends to be cliquey snobs on every block. But if you pinheads would take some time to travel outside of Minneapolis, you'd realize how much in Minnesota there is to admire than complain and whine about. I could just as easily say that Iowa is boring and dull, and that everyone in New Jersey could fit in on Jersey Shore. I could also say that everyone down South must marry their cousin. Is that true? You'd say no, correct? There's plenty of things to whine and complain about in Minnesota. Especially our government. But if you don't like it here, please get out before we release our wild deer on you and go hick-crazy. Because we're clearly evil, have severe xenophobia, and it's most definitely our fault that you get a mosquito bite or two when you visit.

And considering I'm 14, you all appear very insolent as well as uneducated and unscrupulous. And no, I did not use a thesaurus.

Ok, I am a native Minnesotan, my early childhood h...

2011-05-11T22:32:21.888-05:00

Ok, I am a native Minnesotan, my early childhood has some fond (and not so fond) memories but as my childhood progressed I felt like I didn't belong and was eager to leave and explore new places. And that's exactly what I did. After spending time on both coasts, I came back to Minnesota because my husband got a great job offer and I thought it would be nice to be near family again. It is nice to be near family, but I am also unhappy living here. Oddly, the longer I stay, the longer I feel like that high schooler again, ostracized, different, alone, and eager to leave. My husband is also eager to leave (he is a non-native). Of course after living in San Diego, it is hard to deal with the weather here. I thought the heartiness of stomping to school through several feet of snow during my entire youth in my moon boots would return, but it didn't. But I knew it would be cold here, I remembered that part, and that's not what gets me. It's the people. I agree that there is this passive-aggressiveness here, that people are not very open to making new friends, but there's also this thing about 'conforming'. You don't want to stand out. You don't want to be 'different'. Different is bad. New ideas are bad. Quirkiness is bad. Senses of humor are bad. Speaking your mind is bad. Drawing attention to yourself is bad. And due to this, one becomes either very uncomfortable and/or very...self-conscious. Back in high school I felt like maybe I was a loser. Maybe I wasn't 'cool' enough to fit in, maybe I didn't have the 'right' clothes or 'say' the right things. I think the only thing correct was the bit about the clothes. I fit in with the folks at Harvard. I fit in with the Capitol Hill folks in DC. And I fit in with the surfers and free spirits in San Diego. But I cannot seem to fit in with the people here in Minnesota. It's depressing, honestly. I feel like I can't be myself. Like I'm supposed to be like everyone else and if I'm not no one will accept me. It sucks. Honestly, I've had a lot of hurt feelings over this. Facebook reconnected me with a lot of people I went to school with, and, wow, I understand now why I did not like high school. They are all 'frenemy' friends. Nice to your face, but secretly hate you. And you can feel it. The smallest of things make people angry with you. I am overly conscious about trying to be extra nice and polite to make friends and I still manage to piss people off. I wore my shoes in someone's house after they told me I could "leave my shoes on if I'd like" when I entered. I didn't know that was a test. Now they don't speak to me anymore over it. I'm not allowed over anymore. They posted angry comments and articles about how rude it is to wear your shoes in someone's house for a solid YEAR after that incident. It's awful. We are looking to leave ASAP. I just can't take the people here anymore. My family are wonderful people, but outside of my family I just feel downright uncomfortable here.

It’s a different culture, if you can’t accept it t...

2011-05-04T19:57:25.172-05:00

It’s a different culture, if you can’t accept it then I would say - that because of our frigid winters and our humid summers – thank God I was raised here so I have a backbone and when I leave I can take all of you on in your state because it doesn’t sound like you guys have a back bone, especially New York – really you’re from New York, the busiest place in the world and you’re complaining that Minnesota is boring – well didn’t they teach you anything in school? – Minnesota never made the busy list. Thank God for the taxes that paid for my education! We didn’t ask you to come here, just like when we move out of state we didn’t ask to go there, it’s work, work is money and money is survival. It is every man for themselves in Minnesota and if you don’t realize that now, it’ll be a hard and bumpy road. You ask us for something, you better have something in return makes no difference if your family or friend; that line we all say “ah your family (friend) forget about it, it’s what we’re suppose to do” really means “oh I know right now you need this, but one day when I fall down you better be ready to give me something”. If we say sorry, you say it’s ok (even if it’s not – let it go, we don’t care to argue it’s a waste of time! What does it prove? Get me a beer and I’ll argue! At least we can be humorous). But really, what did you expect? That is what you have to ask yourself?
I have lived in other states and I think the worst was Texas, and I’ve been to Oklahoma (I’ll never go back it’s fly central and then people move the flies off their food and keep eating – eww! And people have garbage bags for windows but take better care of their car – why?! Beats the F out of me!), but Texas – ahh good old oil state – what a nightmare and a half. Really Houston was terrible. So see we all hate somewhere. I know once I leave Minnesota (once God graces my checkbook lol) I’ll never come back, but it’s not for the reasons you guys have – those are just a different culture shocks and you have to become part of the culture to make friends, accept it – you’ll be better off. Or you can keep your pride and not have any friends. Hope you all find what you’re looking for but seriously, swallow the pride and jump in – the water is great!

I, a Minnesotan, now believe the problem is that y...

2011-05-04T19:57:08.726-05:00

I, a Minnesotan, now believe the problem is that you got this belief in your head about Minnesota Nice and friendly drivers (oh, and I have never seen a Minnesotan stop at a green light and by the next green light the car behind them didn’t honk – usually they wouldn’t let off the horn for another mile. I don’t know who came up with Minnesota Nice but they had to have been smoking the biggest reefer ever – Minnesotans are not nice drivers), and came here thinking you’d fit right in even though you don’t like hunting, fishing, ATVing, Applebee’s (have you gone downtown or to Woodbury?!), lake side beaches and it’d all be honky-dory and we’d ask all about you and where you came from? No – we don’t care where the heck you came from, we don’t want to hear about it at all – why cuz we don’t care. At work we want to work and get the hell out of there so we can go home and see the people that actually mean something to us, why would we care about you? That’s not why we get paid – we don’t get paid to listen to what happened to your mother’s best friend’s daughter’s boyfriend’s cousin – If you can trace your family and family friend’s that far you are the one with problems –We don’t care it is as simple as that – we don’t care! We don’t care about eachother, we don’t care about you, we don’t care about anything but the people we like and love and the hobbies that mean something to us, we don’t expect you to understand but we sure as hell didn’t ask you to come here only to get in our way and tell us what is the new trick you taught your dog!
I hate Minnesota too but it’s mostly because there really isn’t anything to do – beaches in the summer, ATV in the fall watch out for hunters, construction in the summer, snowmobiling in the winter but really other than that we’re boring people – the mall is one place we do avoid – it’s a tourist trap, all those stores are also somewhere else in Minnesota and we would rather drive another 25 mins away than deal with the France Ave bullshit and the high mark ups at the mall, the other stores are cheaper – a fact the MOA didn’t fill ya in on LOL.
If the food sucks here, then why are you eating it? Personally the food sucks down south we might like our fish but that doesn’t mean we enjoy crawfish – go to cub or rainbow and buy something and then cook with that stove that cost so much – ooh the housing was another thing that bothered all of you. Lake side housing is because all those people that live and grew up in Minnesota and can’t stand neighbors and tourist have those giant houses, they’re very expensive! VERY! Not because we want the backwater scenery, but because we don’t want to see each other, we saw people at work all day – home is our time (NEVER JUST SHOW UP AT SOMEONE’S HOUSE – YOU’LL LOOSE A FRIEND FAST!). Another reason, we have basements for those severe storms we get – we like shelter, there is a hole in the ground for that reason = shelter. And the apartment complexes, the same reason – the hallway is the tornado shelter. I didn’t like it either but seeing as there is no basement in a lot of the apartment complexes outside of downtown it serves as shelter. And in the winter months it serves as a walkway from the garage to the home so you don’t have to walk 6 blocks in the cold.

The party scene/people problems of Minnesota that ...

2011-05-04T19:56:32.291-05:00

The party scene/people problems of Minnesota that you’re all having, yes, we are passive aggressive people but the aggressiveness is usually on the road (Wisconsin drivers make us mad LOL). If you act dumb, or are drunk or don’t like a sport, or comment on how you love the Packers – we have issues already with you. First Impression is big in Minnesota, we don’t have or want the time for small talk or catch up – that’s only at family events or chit chatting on the phone while you’re pasing your living room wondering when the hell you can get off the phone because the person you’re talking to is soo annoying! Even a native Minnesotan isn’t friends with everyone they have grown up with, some of my closest friends are those that I met just a few years ago and I can’t stand the ones I grew up with.
Oh and about us not being able to speak our minds, yes we avoid it only so we don’t swear and make ourselves look bad (impressions are everything and we don’t have/want the time – if you swear first in an argument you can really see us unleash (tempt only if you know what is coming). But maybe you all aren’t trying the right thing – try hunting or fishing, go to a stinky lake, the twins game, monster trucks, the bar scene (if you are a man looking for a woman – don’t do this one, we Minnesotan ladies do not like being hit/talked to/commented on by a man we don’t know – you’ll have better chances at a movie theater by yourself getting any action), ATVing, driving, boating, horseback riding, trails, running, sports locations, fitness center, golf, restaurants (Applebee’s hahaha – so true!) but do something a Minnesotan is doing by nature (remember nature vs. nurture only got us soo far as you’re all stating) because what a person from another state is doing obviously isn’t working. Get on our level because what is common practice where you’re from isn’t common in our Minnesota Backwater Hillbilly Facisist and Communist state. Either we’ve tried it and it doesn’t work here, or we really don’t care to learn it.
The big reason you’re all having problems is because either you’re bitching about Minnesota (which is what Minnesotan’s do already and don’t need the reminder) or you’re not doing something they do and we Minnesotan’s don’t like doing something we’re not accustomed too as we would like to be in our backwater dirty lake – feel free to jump in though the water is great and the fish stay away from you as long as you keep moving, otherwise enjoy a free massage.
The state bird (mosquito) are just things we put up with, we don’t like them but we’re not cry babies either, it is what it is a - damn bug – wear some repellent or put on a sweater so we don’t have to listen to you blabber and cry, but I don’t know a single Minnesotan who hasn’t left Minnesota at one point or another for vaca, I think that the 93% (is that a real statistic?) just want to stay with what they know.
The road construction, the city taxes, and yes the paying for one’s garbage sucks! The cops suck everywhere though – everywhere but that is a nature in itself.

I am a native Minnesotan, and like you who all gre...

2011-05-04T19:55:54.879-05:00

I am a native Minnesotan, and like you who all grew up somewhere else in the world, I hate Minnesota, no hate is too small of a word – I DISPISE MINNESOTA! Yeah growing up was quiet, that is why our parent’s liked it (oooh…and our wonder bread LOL I got a huge laugh out of that one! – it’s just the cheapest bread in MN) but it isn’t quiet anymore, the kids can’t just run out and run loose anywhere anytime as they could when I was growing up because the media has tarnished that, plus with the additions of cell phones it is just chaos now; but there are some realistic things that people have to take into consideration before moving to Minnesota – winters are cold (-50 wind chill is cold for native Minnesotans too) but the extreme weather does things to roads – hence construction (a Minnesotan will tell you we have 4 seasons = still winter, construction, almost winter, winter – but it doesn’t make us like living here - I mean in reality we bitch and moan about it too).
Minnesota-nice – hell I didn’t know such thing existed! I know I’m not nice and I have never met a true nice person in the state that doesn’t expect something back from you, and again I am 24 years old and have lived in Minnesota for 21 of the 24.
The filthy lakes with the dead floating fish hahaha, the rivers and the beaches – ahh that’s just a typical Minnesotan trying to escape the twin cities and going up north for a weekend for peace and a sense of sanity, if we had an ocean I’m sure we’d be there. And, yes Miss NY – it is a great feeling to walk up and down the beach and look out to a vast ocean. But a fact of life is when fish die they float, and if you don’t want your taxes going up more so we can hire more DNR to clean out the dead fish then we have to let nature take it’s course and let the ecosystem do it’s thing. And really what the F is the difference between the dead floating fish in the ocean and the dead floating fish in the lake? Different breed and that’s it – a fish is a fish, they die and that’s it. Get the f over it – crybabies!
Speaking of the DNR, the hunting, the big bad hunter and the bunny rabbit (or in most cases the deer), it is very typical for hunting in Minnesota – but fishing is worse. Hunting is sad, and I am a person with a big heart, but I married a hunter, so I guess we can’t all win now can we? I do know that the deer get too heavily populated and as a result they die because the grass in the winter months is hard for them to dig out so every fall the hunters do their thing, which is fine as it keeps my car in one piece and a deer free windshield. Do you want them dying quickly with a gunshot to the liver or kidney or a slow death from starvation? Have you seen what a deer can do to a car? And how many people die from deer hitting the car each year? But human’s will never stop driving will they? Event he people that bitch about Global warming turn the ignition on and drive away – maybe in a hybrid but really it’s still giving out fumes. Ride a bike!
The accent, dontcha know, is extremely tiring – if you tell, comment, or ask a Minnesotan to say something or laugh when we say boat - we will automatically dis-like you. We got tired of it from that Bobby’s World show, plus when we go on vacation and people laugh, or the movies Fargo, or Grumpy Old Men (which not every Minnesotan has seen). But no matter where you grow up you have an accent (to all Minnesotans, a Jersey accent is probably the most annoying, the grinding, low, deep and hystracial accent, then new York and then the south). See we all have accents, is it OreGONE or OreGEN? Cas-ele or Cas-TEL?

You've just been given a Kreativ Blogger Award...

2011-04-30T15:41:34.809-05:00

You've just been given a Kreativ Blogger Award (because I think you're awesome)! Take a peek here if you'd like to see what it's all about: http://gotpolish.blogspot.com/2011/04/you-like-me-you-really-really-like-me.html

You are so right! The only people who know "M...

2011-04-19T05:58:08.646-05:00

You are so right! The only people who know "Minnesota nice" is a myth are people who come here from somewhere else. Actually, most Minnesotans are clannish and at least somewhat xenophobic. My husband grew up here and he often comments on behaviors that he thinks of as unique and special to MN, such as giving another driver a nod or wave if he lets you turn first. Really. I'm pretty sure those are universal behaviors.
As for the winters, what can I say that hasn't been said. I've lived here for 30 years and really tried to get to like it at first. But I hate it and can't wait for the day when I can leave!

I live in northern MN and I hate it. The people ar...

2011-03-22T12:03:15.374-05:00

I live in northern MN and I hate it. The people are not friendly and are very passive aggressive. I like the winters for the snow sports, but I hate being so isolated from a proper city. No Duluth is not a proper city, it is just another hick town.