Interesting Question

A friend from college posed the following question to me this week. Worth sharing:

"Do Minnesotans completely lack in customs compared to the rest of the world? You would probably know better than most. This is a conversation I had tonight claiming our customs were just different and not lacking...your blog seems to say otherwise concerning bowing and the like. Are we really that far behind the rest of the world in class?"

Interesting question. I have never been asked that before. Despite what I may communicate here, I told him (and truly believe) that Minnesotans (or Americans in general) can be more polite than people in other parts of the world, especially when taking into account the concept of "Minnesota nice". I think a lot of people outside of America dislike or misjudge Americans because the culture seems forced on them (through media, movies, news, politics) or they don't recognize the difference between what they dislike about our government and our culture. I've had several good friends from Norway tell me they don't like Americans, but they like me. Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm the real deal. Walking evidence that we're not that bad...

The answer to my friend's question really depends on how you are defining manners, however. Bowing is polite, yes, but there are so many strict social 'rules' in Japan... you can be rude without even realizing it. Sometimes it feels like you literally have to be trained on how to do things, which seems contradictory to common-sense 'manners' (as we might call it). As long as you're good person, polite and respectful, I would say you would do well ANYWHERE in the world.

I have only ever lived in Minnesota, so my perspective might be biased, but what most Minnesotans consider 'cultured' is at a global (-enough) standard. There is the concept of being polite to someone's face (somewhat of a 'happ0 bijin' mentality?), but furthermore, we have many cultural pockets in Minnesota that have taught many of us to recognize a basic line of respect for other cultures, that people don't seem to push that often. I mean, hey, look at it this way: in China, they spit on the streets and pick their noses (nose picking here is a-OK, too, btw - blowing your nose in public is not); men can grab women in the Middle East & froderism happens on trains here, too (even with the standards). At the same time, I have met some truly beautiful human beings in all of these places; these are just customs they are taught and accept. They are different, yes, but how you treat or approach others is often what leaves the biggest impression. And Minnesotans seem to be well-versed in making others comfortable upon meeting them... so yeah.

I'm curious to hear what my friends and family would say... but - in the absence of alcohal (bar behavior) - I am overall impressed by how people from my hometown conduct themselves. Let me know if you have any other thoughts (on my long-winded response)... it's a discussion worth having...