Middish Yiddish

     Yesterday I kicked off the morning by watching video clips of Greta Von Susteren interviewing Michele Bachmann.  In the course of the interview Bachmann demonstrated her amazing ability, once again, to be totally unflappable; this capacity is supported by the Continuous Vacant Smile. 

     The Continuous Vacant Smile is a trait which is a nasty by-product of the famous Minnesota Nice demeanor which is used to cover all sins of thought, word, and deed.  It is a cultural condition that seems to be caught through exposure (kind of like a virus). In fact, I had to move to New York City for twenty years to combat the Minnesota Nice germ – and found that it can only be treated as a chronic condition – it is not really curable. 

     The Continuous Vacant Smile is in the same category as the Fade-by.  The Fade-by is used when a person does not feel like interacting with another human being.  This is how a Minnesotan can walk down a busy sidewalk in a small town (where you know pretty much everybody), and not say hello to a single person.  The way it works is as follows.   Basically, you walk by someone – and avert your eyes – usually down at the curb as if there is something really, really captivating in the gutter – and walk right by that very person without saying a word.  All Minnesotans know how to collude in this and will not interrupt to say hello. The primary reason the other party will not interrupt is shame – either it is shame because they know that the person on the street does not want to talk to her (shame as a result of rejection), or shame because she does not want to talk either.  In this fashion a Minnesotan can avoid embarrassing encounters, forgotten names, anxiety producing requests for further contact.  

     When I explained the Minnesota Fade-by to my sister-in-law, Inga, she experienced a shock of recognition, that made us both crack-up.  She knew exactly what I was talking about, and was both a perpetrator and victim.  See, all those years in New York City taught me something! 

     Anyway, it takes a lot of Chutzpah to break through a Fade-by, and Minnesotans are not famous for their Chutzpah (except, perhaps Hubert Humphrey – and these days, Mark Dayton)  The use of Yiddish, is rare in Minnesota - only heard in special parts of the metropolitan area. So, I was shocked to hear Michele B. slaughter Yiddish in that interview with Greta, yes I kid you not: she said “Chitspa”.  Chits-pa.  This was void of the tangible “h” on the other side of the “c”, the “u”, and there was no “z” anywhere to be found.  The nerve. I would accuse her of having Chutzpah – except that it would be a compliment – and a mistake, because I think the correct word for her might actually be Hubris.   Now, how’s that for a recovering Minnesota Nicenik?