Minnesotan's politely lined up in a single file line patiently waiting for a bus that is not there yet. I could not believe this the first time I saw it. Everywhere else I have lived, people would be milling about until the bus comes, then they would squeeze into the bus once it comes. Here, they wait in an orderly line, not talking to each other, looking straight ahead, and certainly not getting too close to each other.We are so sadly repressed in this state...
We're not repressed, we orderly.
ReplyDeleteReorderly Pressed, is what I'd call it.
ReplyDeleteIn NYC we would have looked at that line, probably asked someone standing in it if they were waiting on a free flu vaccine or something, and then walked straight in front to the curb.
-Me
Oh, hey, you could seen this any time in Madison WI as well. I rode the city bus for more than ten years, and even now in neighborhoods with bus service we line up, in the order we arrived at the bus stop, and we absolutely we don't get too close or look each other in the eye. Some people do talk once they're ON the bus but you to have known someone an awfully long time to do that :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat amazed me is that people know what to do. These are the kind social situations where I generally fail. I would be out there waiting for my bus and wondering what the fuck those people are standing in line for, and then when the bus comes I would finally get it and feel like somehow I don't quite fit in....
ReplyDeletecivil, maybe?
ReplyDeleteYeah - it's certainly civil compared to Anchorage.
ReplyDelete