Rod: We don’t do conflict in the Midwest.
Me: Oh yes, you do. You just do it in silence. And let it build up to the once-in-a-decade mega-explosion.
Rod: Those Scandinavian roots run deep. We don’t do conflict. We avoid conflict. You New Yorkers could learn a thing or two from us.
Me: Like what?
Rod: Like when to be quiet.
Me: Like right now?
Rod: As I said, we don’t do conflict there. I may be here, but I’m from there. So I can’t answer your question.
Me: Couldn’t you Scandinavians learn a thing or two from we New Yorkers?
Rod: Yes, but then we’d only be able to think about what we learned, and it would eat us alive, because we could never say it out loud.
[...] he gets when he doesn’t like the way I’ve said something. But, since he’s the Man from the Midwest, he naturally didn’t say anything. Just sat there with that [...]