Two letters to the editor (Strib)
Sept 2, 2023 8:24:12 GMT -5
Cornflake, dradtke, and 2 more like this
Post by billhammond on Sept 2, 2023 8:24:12 GMT -5
I have been spending a lot of time in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region over the past two years. While there, few things have sparked more enthusiastic conversation than the annual Minnesota State Fair. In town this week with the fair in full bloom, I made sure that I made time to go. After Richie's dill pickle cheese curd tacos, Union Hmong Kitchen's galabao, chicken on a stick, Corn Roast's corn on the cob and a twist ice cream cone, I felt disgusting and happy.
That's about the time that I realized I had lost my wallet. Surrounded by what looked like 10,000 people, I assumed all was lost. However, the lovely people working at an information booth near the Fine Arts Building suggested I go to the lost and found office and ask if someone found it. Ridiculous as that sounded to this East Coaster, I walked across the entire fairgrounds to find a small lost and found office near the midway. Inside, I told them my sad story. "Oh, my goodness," one of the workers said. "An older woman just rushed clear across the fairgrounds to turn a wallet in" — my wallet — "hoping that the owner with a D.C. license was still here and would be looking for it." I asked the worker if the woman perchance had left her name so I could thank her. He looked at me, laughing, and said, "People don't do that here."
Minnesotans really are different. They are really wonderful.
Ben Hecht, Washington, D.C.
•••
I went to the State Fair today with a few relatives and we made the rounds from the cattle barns to the midway and beyond. We ate lots of food on sticks (mostly deep fried) and we shared space and a few light conversations with fellow fairgoers. Along the way we stopped at the agriculture, dairy, eco and arts buildings and the DFL and the GOP sites. The weather was pleasant. The crowd, though large and growing rapidly, seemed peaceful. I felt hopeful, content. Then I saw "it" — a booth with huge lettering: DUMP BIDEN. It was jarring, mean-spirited, inappropriate and out of place. It made me angry, but mostly it made me sad. It seemed so unpatriotic, so un-American, so not Minnesotan. It didn't ruin my fair experience, but it did cause me to wonder when or if we will return to a time of civility. Will we choose to meet our differences with a handshake or a fist?
Michael Farnsworth, Minneapolis
That's about the time that I realized I had lost my wallet. Surrounded by what looked like 10,000 people, I assumed all was lost. However, the lovely people working at an information booth near the Fine Arts Building suggested I go to the lost and found office and ask if someone found it. Ridiculous as that sounded to this East Coaster, I walked across the entire fairgrounds to find a small lost and found office near the midway. Inside, I told them my sad story. "Oh, my goodness," one of the workers said. "An older woman just rushed clear across the fairgrounds to turn a wallet in" — my wallet — "hoping that the owner with a D.C. license was still here and would be looking for it." I asked the worker if the woman perchance had left her name so I could thank her. He looked at me, laughing, and said, "People don't do that here."
Minnesotans really are different. They are really wonderful.
Ben Hecht, Washington, D.C.
•••
I went to the State Fair today with a few relatives and we made the rounds from the cattle barns to the midway and beyond. We ate lots of food on sticks (mostly deep fried) and we shared space and a few light conversations with fellow fairgoers. Along the way we stopped at the agriculture, dairy, eco and arts buildings and the DFL and the GOP sites. The weather was pleasant. The crowd, though large and growing rapidly, seemed peaceful. I felt hopeful, content. Then I saw "it" — a booth with huge lettering: DUMP BIDEN. It was jarring, mean-spirited, inappropriate and out of place. It made me angry, but mostly it made me sad. It seemed so unpatriotic, so un-American, so not Minnesotan. It didn't ruin my fair experience, but it did cause me to wonder when or if we will return to a time of civility. Will we choose to meet our differences with a handshake or a fist?
Michael Farnsworth, Minneapolis
