My friend's sister, who lives near Minneapolis, was kind enough to pick us up from the airport on the day we arrived and drive us over to where the rest of our friends were meeting. We parked at the destination, got out of the car, and Amy and I stood at the corner of the intersection to wait for the traffic signal......while Sarah, halfway across the street, looked back at us like we were aliens.
"What are you guys waiting for?"
After exchanging a puzzled glance, Amy and I crossed with the just-turned light and caught up with her.
But it wasn't just Sarah. Turns out, ALL Minnesotans share this blatant disregard for pedestrian rules. The entire weekend in Minneapolis, we marveled as the tourists waited at the corner and the locals stepped right out into the street. Is it that the population isn't so dense that the traffic is prohibitive of illegal crossing? Amy's theory is that people are just too nice there, so drivers will courteously allow such strange behavior (a theory disproven when I, crossing legally, was nearly squashed by someone making an errant left turn).
Not that I have a photo to illustrate this further disproving of the politeness theory, but I must also note that everyone we encountered who worked in a customer service job was surly, slow, and seemed inconvenienced by our mere presence. The weather was beautiful all weekend; maybe Minnesotans suffer from some reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder that renders them unhappy in all but the coldest temperatures.
