The Streets of Minneapolis

 

   The usual spot for my birthday dinner has pared down it's menu considerably. The one thing I like to order is longer being served. I wanted to find a new place for my birthday dinner. There was a place that we could go, but it was in Minneapolis. C and I are a bit scared of going into Minneapolis. There have been violent riots and shootings. We debated for several days. C consulted news reports and did some research to see if the part of downtown we planned to go to was safe. 

  Finally he made a reservation. They recommended that we park in the ramp over the restaurant. We made an early reservation so we would be out of the city before dark.

   Our reservation was on a Friday. About 40 minutes or so before our reservation time,  we left our house to go to dinner. The drive wasn't too bad until we hit one patch of slow traffic. We almost called the restaurant to let them know we would be late. Then the traffic loosened up and we were on our way. 

  As soon as we hit the edge of downtown, we sensed that things were different. Normally the cars are bumper to bumper on a Friday night. The side walks are crowded with people. There are people heading home from a long day of work. People headed to meet up with friends. People headed to their favorite bar for a few drinks.  People just hanging out. The sidewalks were mostly empty. It was very strange.

  As we continued to drive we saw several buildings that had boarded up the ground floor windows with particle board. 

  We got to the restaurant and parked in the ramp. We were able to find a good spot quickly.  The parking spots were mostly filled, but there were a many empty parking places. Another thing that was not normal.  We walked to the elevator and down to the restaurant. 

   They seated us near the window looking out onto the street and the ground floor of the Foshay Tower. The windows were mostly frosted for privacy, but we could still see a few people walking outside. There were couples strolling along and several people walking dogs. That was it. 

  After a very enjoyable dinner served to us by an amusing theatre student server, we went home. We knew that a lot of the reason for downtown being deserted was due to the pandemic. As we drove through town we saw another reason. There were armored trucks parked in front of buildings and driving in the streets. We saw a pair of National Guardsmen in fatigues carrying automatic weapons on a corner guarding a business. 

   It was surreal. This was not the Minneapolis that I knew. The Minneapolis I knew was a happening town, frenzied and active. The city I saw looked deserted and sparse. It looked the like kind of place where people would scurry from place to place hoping not to be noticed and afraid of what might happen. It felt like everyone was hunkered down and afraid. Afraid of violence and afraid of disease. It was not the joyful place that I knew.

   I've seen places like this before on TV. Places far away from Minnesota. Places where people live with violence in terror everyday. It never occurred to me that that could happen here. I never thought I'd see soldiers patrolling the streets with weapons at the ready.

  It was comforting in that we have people who are willing to do the job of protecting the people of downtown and the businesses. It's also scary that we need that kind of protection here.....