Minnesota Nice

There’s a phrase that’s commonly used to describe people who live here…they’re called “Minnesota Nice.” It means that Minnesotans will often go out of their way to help others…and this is particularly true when it comes to helping out their friends…!

We were recently helping some friends who’d gone away for a few days by going over to their place to feed and water their cats, check for packages/mail…and just generally keep an eye on their place. We’ve done this for them many times before (as they have for us), so knew the code to open their garage door to access their house.

On this particular morning, we went over to their place…but the code wouldn’t work. We tried it multiple times…but to no avail. We were stumped…because it had always worked before. Returning home after our unsuccessful venture, Brian did an online search to see if he could find what the issue could be—and if there were any suggested solutions. He found that, indeed, this is a common problem—cold temperatures can affect the functioning of these keypads. A quick look at a weather app showed that our current outdoor temperature was 17 degrees…!

One of the suggested solutions was to cover the entire unit with a heating pad—letting it warm up—and then trying it again. We figured it was worth a try, so back to their place we went…heating pad and extension cord in hand. (Luckily, they do have an outdoor electrical outlet.)

So, there we stood…holding a heating pad in place over the keypad to warm it. Finally, after about 10 minutes, we tried the code again. VOILA…the code worked, the door opened…and we were able to get inside to feed the cats—who were VERY happy to see us…!

I can’t even imagine what any of their neighbors must have been thinking as they watched this…!