Minnesota Sucks
So what's up with this state anyway? It seems like people don't want to stay here one minute longer than they have to. Looking at my [mostly Asian] friends, I can't say that there will be too many of them here ten years from now. So it's cold, but it's not that bad. So when one of them announces that they will be moving away soon, instead of missing them, I almost feel a sense of relief for them that they're getting out before this place starts doing strange things to their brain. Is it because this place doesn't have much of an Asian community? No decent Chinese restaurants? Everyone lives 30 minutes away from each other? Spiritually unsatisfying? Who knows, maybe this is the way it is everywhere, but I just don't have a point of comparison.
posted by biffnips at 1:58 PM
10 Comments:
why was i surprised that you began your blog with this? i pray you will find the answers to your quesitons and a solution to the Asian exodus now that you have the time to meditate and ponder :) Libin
Two words for you: New + York. Or was it 55 + 45? I don't remember exactly, but both are good reasons.
There's always the west coast/SF if you're up for some mischief & mayhem with yours truly ;)
Not Libin
hi biffnips!
oh yeah, i like the san francisco bay area 'cuz there's more people here and the weather's better. i think community is pretty good in minnesota. they say people are nicer to each other in colder climates 'cuz people need to help each other especially when it's cold outside. on the other hand, the asian community's smaller, so if you want to meet someone, it's a bit harder. community in san francisco is tough 'cuz everyone's 'so busy'. we wrap ourselves with lots of things to do 'cuz we value busyness here. living far apart can be an issue here too, but i have many friends who live closeby. minnesota is definitely not spiritually unsatisying. for me, i had more time to reflect thre. now, sometimes i'm just too busy.
oh yeah, it's me elaine...
Minnesota does suck. Most of the Asian folks I knew in Minnesota moved back to Seattle.
The folks I know there are wonderful--but between going "up nort" or to the lake or to their job in the Twin Cities I could never find them. They seemed to live in their cars.
There is, however, a great Sushi place near Fridley--or within 30 minutes of Fridley.
How can i even begin to express to you how much this city/state actually sucks ass... Having just moved here from sunny southern california... it was a huge transition in just weather alone but to find out that this place has one of the worst job markets was great too.. then there is this thing called minnesota nice? well that shit is bullshit because everything here is all cliques if you haven\'t been each other\'s friend since birth then you aren\'t gonna get past anyones so called nice exterior... then there is this local pride about being from the twin cities... and well other than downtown they aren\'t really cities at all... i can\'t find any place to get a barrio taco after 1 am and god dammit chipotle is not authentic mexican food... there is nowhere to go at all in the middle of the nite and i would kill to see just 1 real gang banger anywhere in town... The worst part about it is my wife loves it... she was born here and for some reason i can\'t even fathom she thinks its great... i keep asking her what is great and the only thing she can come up with is her folks are from here... There is no culture... no art that is risky at all and everyone here thinks they are god\'s gift to the world... i can\'t tell you how many times i get asked about my hometown just by showing my id to get a drink and thats all there is to do here.... drink and smoke cigarettes... i have made alot of films and heard the film community is great too but other than the uptown theatre and some free screenings there is no film community at all.. it costs damn near a thousand dollars to rent a piece of shit handy cam... and noone will let you into their lives enough to even edit on their laptop which they are ever so fucking proud of... the weather here makes me want to be as dead as those fucking suicide billboards... christ... i feel like an alien when i go to mall of america and everyone here dresses like the live inside an american eagle outfitters... cheese curds are the same as mozzarella sticks and the mullet is the dominant haircut... did i just go back in time to 1985 or is it really just that prince is a god here... i mean seriously... i like atmosphere alot but when i got here i thought it would have an amazing underground hip hop or punk community and instead it has like 2 or 3 tiny hole in the wall record shops with every cd priced well over 15 bux. its been months and at first i thought it was simply situational depression but i think it really is just lack of culture... i have been to more barren landscapes than these and all those people still manage to find a unique way to identify themselves and there surroundings... they have unique ideas and thoughts, their customs and ideals aren\'t the same as a giant city but they know that.. .and well its a tad endearing .... everyone here thinks that they are in a major metropolis and that they are sooo hip and savvy... and 9 times out of ten i have to point out that their outfit, slang and yes even their haircut look like something out of a bad micahel j fox movie... a year and a half more in this frozen, muggy, mosquito infested... hell hole where everyone copies me but not after they have first insulted me then try and cozy up to my feet... this place is helll im sure of it absolute hell..........
Google Miami sucks. Or any other city or state. Or look here:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004912.html
In most of the more "exciting" places, you're three times as likely to get your head blown off (or your kids' heads). So there are trade-offs in life. Minnesotans are more highly educated than most; the political culture is relatively free of corruption; governance works well. People may be reserved, but that's better than open racism of the South or the materialistic superficiality of southern California. Google "healthiest state". I'm not saying MN is heaven on earth. I'm saying it's pretty liveable overall. If you're into cocaine and driving a Hummer, move to Miami.
Because of my job I get moved around a lot. I lived in the Twin Cities 7 years. I liked it at first but over time, the shine wore off. Conversely in other cities I've lived I did not like them immediately but grew to like them more and more.
Minnesota is not a terrible place, but it's not what I call 'outsider' friendly. It's a somewhat closed culture and in many ways, extremely nutty. I call people in the Twin Cities 'Urban Hicks'. I don't know of any other way to describe them in a few words. Further I would not describe them as 'nice' but rather defensive and 'brusk'. Not in an east coast kind of way, more in a pissy sort of way.
I don't want to rail on 'em too much. I met people there I liked and it has some excellent qualities about but I can certainly understand why people from other places, especially where there are more outsiders or 'transplants' living there, such as Arizona, California, Texas or Florida, find them 'odd'. It's just because people from Minnesota tend to stay there and not that many people move there and stay from other areas, at least not in the same numbers as some other states.
There's good and bad everywhere. I wouldn't put Minnesota last on my list of places to live, far from it, but I certainly wouldn't make it top 5 of cities/states I've lived. I also think they're kind of deluded about their state. The Twin Cities has a higher crime rate than some cities you'd never guess. They have some of the worst water quality in the US, it's spread over all kingdom come.
The funniest thing about them is that accent which they claim is not an accent and I constantly heard this 'major networks get newscasters from here because we have no accents'. Riiiight. Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Bob Schiffer, the three CBS News Anchors before Katy Couric...all from Texas, for example. Linda Stouffer on CNN..San Antonio. E.D. Hill from Fox...Dallas. Scott Pelley 60 minutes...Dallas. And on and on. That's just one state. Paula Zahn ..Ohio...Katy Couric..Virginia..Brian Williams...New Jersey. I don't see a 'minnesota trend'.
Ahh well, glad to be out of there and I'd probably quit my job if they said, 'back to Minnesota'. No way, no how.
Minnesota does suck. Your life will be over before it began if you move here when you are just starting out trying to make it on your own, and it will come to grinding halt if you come here riding a wave of happiness and success from your previous place of habitat.
Come here if you want to remain intoxicated on alcohol or drugs 24/7 and know how to scam the system and collect SS, SSDI, or welfare, that way you can do what people do best in Minnesota and fit right in, no problems. Insurance fraud is regular pastime, too.
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