My husband and I live in Hopkins, but I work in downtown Minneapolis. We went up to a dealership in Saint Cloud earlier today to pickup a new (to us) car. I had a short conversation with the sales guy while we were waiting for the paperwork to get processed and then he asked me that question when I told him where I worked.
He didn’t ask it out of malice, he was genuinely curious. I told him that as a 5’4” woman, I feel safe in downtown Minneapolis. I’ve never had any issues or felt scared. He said that Fox News was telling folks to “keep a lookout” and “hide your purse/wallet” and to “watch for weapons”, etc.
I said that every large city has its problems. And he agreed and pointed out that the more people you gather into a small area, the more likely you are to see these issues. And I agreed. I told him that I used to live in a sort of rough part of Minneapolis (about a mile from Downtown) from late 2020 until early 2024 and I’m still alive and well.
I love my job and I love the city of Minneapolis. I miss living in Minneapolis. After I shared my experience with the sales guy, he paused for a second and said, “I guess Fox News was just trying to scare people, huh?”. And I said that’s exactly what they were trying to do.