Blog: The Joys of the Midwest

Midwesterners know how to treat people.

At the Mall of America yesterday, a native Minnesotan returned $10 that I had dropped. Not only did this man return the bill but several other people had tried to do the same before the money found its way back to my hands.

You can tell who is from where based on the two second interaction you have with them; it is safe to give a casual smile when passing strangers in a mall in the Midwest. Southern hospitality has nothing on us. More often than not, Midwesterners are friends in a matter of minutes.

There is a regional understanding of the suffering we endure. We share cold winters, hot summers and a love for baseball. Most of our cities have lost their place in the spotlight and are trying to make a comeback. A lot of us don’t have much to look at outside of our windows: no oceans, no mountains, no grand landmarks.

We dig a little deeper, listen a little harder and enjoy nice weather a little more.

We are the forgotten middle. We used to be the frontier, but as innovation swept to the Wild West, we were shoved aside. But here I am, calling for action: we can take it back. We can be the innovators, steal the thunder of the coasts. We knew what being the west was before the west did. We knew what harsh conditions were the moment we settled. We knew.

Listen up, coastal America: you may have the the tourist attractions, the natural beauty and the weather but you might learn a thing or two about compassion from those of us from the middle.