When I was candidating I was given the book How Fargo of You by Marc de Celle, which is a collection of good Samaritan stories that might seem far fetched to those of us not from Fargo. I was the recipient of some very Fargo welcome from my congregation who checked in my stuff and even mowed my lawn before I arrived here. I greatly appreciate their help.
But this week I witnessed a real How Fargo of You moment. In the right turn lane next to me I saw a car rear end another car. They weren’t going fast. And while I saw dust burst off of both of their cars upon impact, there appeared to be little or no damage to the vehicles. I could not hear what they were saying to each other, but given my powers of observation this is what it looked like.
The hitter put his head in his hands and shook his head. Both men stepped out of their cars. Before checking their cars for damage, they checked with each other, appearing to ask, “Are you okay?” When both affirmed they were ok, they looked at their cars, shook their heads, threw up their hands in an “eh, so what” gesture, side hugged, got back in their cars and drove off.
I almost want to leave that incident here without further comment, but my California community would probably not quite understand what I said. There was no exchanging of information: no phone numbers, no insurance carriers. No one other than these two men will be involved. There is no sorting out whose fault it is and no premiums that might be raised. And these two men, presumably strangers, hugged in public to show their goodwill.
I don’t know what else to say about it. Read the book How Fargo of You. There are many more stories like this. There is also a section on reasons to move here, plus twice as many not to. I am getting familiar with the good things about the Fargo-Moorhead community. It is safe. It feels like a community. Kids play outside. And people treat people as more important than things. “You ran into my car? I hope you’re ok. Don’t worry about the car.” I know I have yet to experience the twice as many reasons not to. So far I take those on faith.
But this week I witnessed a real How Fargo of You moment. In the right turn lane next to me I saw a car rear end another car. They weren’t going fast. And while I saw dust burst off of both of their cars upon impact, there appeared to be little or no damage to the vehicles. I could not hear what they were saying to each other, but given my powers of observation this is what it looked like.
The hitter put his head in his hands and shook his head. Both men stepped out of their cars. Before checking their cars for damage, they checked with each other, appearing to ask, “Are you okay?” When both affirmed they were ok, they looked at their cars, shook their heads, threw up their hands in an “eh, so what” gesture, side hugged, got back in their cars and drove off.
I almost want to leave that incident here without further comment, but my California community would probably not quite understand what I said. There was no exchanging of information: no phone numbers, no insurance carriers. No one other than these two men will be involved. There is no sorting out whose fault it is and no premiums that might be raised. And these two men, presumably strangers, hugged in public to show their goodwill.
I don’t know what else to say about it. Read the book How Fargo of You. There are many more stories like this. There is also a section on reasons to move here, plus twice as many not to. I am getting familiar with the good things about the Fargo-Moorhead community. It is safe. It feels like a community. Kids play outside. And people treat people as more important than things. “You ran into my car? I hope you’re ok. Don’t worry about the car.” I know I have yet to experience the twice as many reasons not to. So far I take those on faith.