South Dakotans

I already did a story on Homeschoolers so it’s only fair I do a story on South Dakotans. We are, to put it quite simply, masters at under-stating the obvious. Then again in different circumstances we are masters of over-stating things. I’m not sure why we can’t just say things like they are but I think it started back at the Black Hills gold rush. The first people out here said, “The winters are a bit difficult.” Yeah, right, about half of you died. And they also said, “There is a ton of gold!” No. There wasn’t a lot of gold. So, I figure it’s just in our nature.

We like the word “breezy”. If you ever hear a South Dakotan say that word assume they are lying because it’s not breezy. “Oh, look the wind just blew that car over!” “Yeah, it’s a bit breezy.” That’s us!

Last winter, we went to the grocery store. Most people would take the hint that it’s too cold to drive sixteen miles into town when it’s thirty degrees below zero but our family is home schooled. Stubbornness issues again. Sigh. We drove into town anyway. We got our stuff and went to the check out isle and the lady says, “A bit nippy today.”

“Sure is,” Mom replies.

Down playing and over-stating are just always going to be part of South Dakota, I’m afraid. But then again, if we were normal there wouldn’t be anything special about us. We are, after all, the selected guardians of our national monument, Mount Rushmore. I mean, just think about it, George Washington’s head is 60 feet tall!

There is just one more thing I wish to say about South Dakotans. We are also stubborn and I hope we always stay that way. One example of this is when a man rode on bike all the way from South Dakota to Washington D.C. to be at a rally for black’s civil rights back on April 28, 1963. Stubborness issues? You betcha!