4 Ways To Avoid The ‘Minnesota Goodbye’

I experienced my first "Minnesota goodbye" last night, and it was everything I thought it would be - but I'm not sure if that's a good thing?

If you need a refresher, the "Minnesota goodbye" is simply a case of "resistance is futile." Folks will try to "leave" a gathering but in Minnesota, you really can't until you've had at least one more solid round of conversation before actually exiting wherever you are. This happens even after you pay your bill, explain you have to leave, etc! As a native Pennsylvania, it's something that I've never seen before in my life and I didn't know how to handle it!

It took me a year-and-a-half of living in Rochester before I experienced my first "Minnesota goodbye" last night.

For Halloween, my husband and I got together with a couple of friends in the area. We had some tasty wings at Wild Bill's and paid our bill at 6:54 pm. However, as we rose from our seats, I noticed another round of conversation was forming right in the front lobby. We're the only ones that aren't "Minnesotan" yet, so, again, this surprised us.

I asked myself, "Do I interject?" and "Why are they starting over?" - I couldn't come up with an answer except that I'd seen my first "Minnesota goodbye" in action! This instance occurred for 25 minutes or so. Since then, I've been informed they are typically longer.

May I propose that we do away with the "Minnesota goodbye"? If you've ever wanted to avoid this - I think I have some suggestions that aren't rude!