That's Different

I’ve lived in Minnesota my whole life and I still don’t think I’ve mastered how to speak Minnesotan.

For Christmas one year, my former employer took us to see the show “How to Speak Minnesotan” at a local playhouse. Of course the play talked about “you betcha”, ending sentences with “then”, our passive-aggressive and indirect nature, and how things get “froze up”. They also mentioned “come here once”, “uff dah”, “ya, ya, ya”, and talking about the weather.

The phrase that I’ve run into the last week a lot is “that’s different”.

Now, “that’s different” can be a simple statement of fact. Something is, indeed, different. Like the way my new car can make call just by pushing a button and speaking through the rear-view mirror. Different. And AWESOME.

Also, “that’s different” can be a way to say you disapprove, or that you have an opinion - but aren’t willing to give it. I ran into “that’s different” a lot this week as I wore a new pair of glasses that I bought (for $10 – my one “fun purchase for me” of the month). I don’t technically wear glasses, so yes, they are fake. And I got some people who told me they loved them, some people who said they did not, and a lot of “that’s different”.

I’m not sure how to interpret all the “that’s different” – it could be just that the glasses actually are different (which they are), that they are interesting (not sure about that), or that someone disapproves. Whichever way it is, I especially like that the glasses give me an entirely new look, so they are keepers in my book. I’ll wear them less often than I don’t wear them, but they are a nice change of pace.

And I needed a change of pace.