Minnesota Slice and Empathy

You know, this was supposed to be a blog with my thoughts, not just a bunch of D&D stuff….so, let’s react to something I read online today. I follow Rick Steves (the travel and social activist guy) on Facebook. Today he posted a link to a blog about the difference between US and European social trust (not about why, alas, just that there is a difference). There was some interesting stuff, but this paragraph is what gave me stuff to think about while I went to get coffee down the street….

He said that you also find this ethic in Scandinavian emigre communities in North America. A prime example is the “Minnesota slice” phenomenon at an Upper Midwest potluck: Nobody wants to take the last slice of pie, so instead, they keep cutting it in half, then in half again, carving off infinitesimally smaller slivers. At some point, once a wedge can’t be divided any further, what’s left sits on a plate until the table is cleared. The Minnesota slice is a tangible symbol of “just in case you need it, my friend…”

https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2021/05/american-europe-social-trust/

I lived in Minnesota for nearly fifty years. I’ve certainly experienced “Minnesota slice”. But, ya, that is 100% not what it is about. It isn’t about others, making sure they have something if they need it. It also isn’t about cutting the last piece over and over (thought that might happen one, maybe two, times). It is about guilt and making sure one isn’t judged by others. No one wants to be the person that takes the last piece, because that’s just not done. Also, if it was about others, that would be about empathy, not trust (see below).

It may or may not have started out as a way to worry about others, but like most things in the US, it became (or just is) about self, not others. Correct me if I’m wrong, fellow Miinnesotans…….but MN slice is about guilt and the self.

One last thought. If you do read the whole thing, there is a link to a LONG article by David Brooks in The Atlantic. I have been saying for years that the biggest issue in the US is a lack of empathy, and maybe it is. But this Brooks’ article makes a good point that it is a lack of trust. Maybe those are two sides of the same coin, or a multi-sided die. Maybe the biggest problems in the US are all related to how we feel about others and self.

I’m guessing there is a post coming about that too…..