THE FRIAR

Had a young man on my bus last week that was kind of interesting. He seemed nervous and kind of out of place. He asked me if my bus went to Uptown. I told him it did and he seemed a little relieved. He sat in the peanut seat and finally got the nerve to have a conversation.

Turns out he moved to Minneapolis a week or two ago and felt a little uncomfortable being here. He said he is from a VERY small town in West Virginia. He is a Friar and is here to get schooling from the older friars. He said he was the youngest one in the Friary. He looked like he was about 23 or so. He said most of the guys were in their 50's. He was going to wear his monk robe on the bus but they advised against it. That was probably a good move seeing how nervous he already was. I'm sure he'd have gotten unwanted attention if he was dressed in a robe. He said he was a little intimidated by the "big city". I tried to ease his mind and told him a lot of people come here from other places and we all just make a life for ourselves, fitting ourselves in where we want to be. I told him about the Lakes and some other interesting parts of south Minneapolis he may like to check out.

He seemed a little calmer by the time he got off the bus. He said I was the kindest person he had met since he got to Minneapolis. I told him to just relax and enjoy the variety of things this city has to offer. I told him he'd fit right in. He did seem much more confident as he got off the bus.

I hope he comes to love Minneapolis as much as I have. It's a great place to live.