South Dakotans are a unique bunch who certainly have their own set of quirks and awesome qualities. While out-of-staters might scratch their heads at some of these South Dakota habits and behaviors, I’m prouder than ever to call this beautiful state home. Here are 12 extremely weird things people from South Dakota do.
1. Travel an hour or more to the nearest shopping mall.
South Dakota is full of many charming little communities, but when you live in a town with a population of 1,000, you can’t really count on doing all of your shopping there. Sometimes the nearest city isn’t conveniently close.
2. Use the presence of a Walmart to differentiate between a “city” and a “town.”
This is usually the deciding factor, in case you were wondering.
3. Carry on with our lives even when it snows.
Many other states may call off school and work with even just a little snow, but we prevail even through snow storms. It takes A LOT to stop us from going about our day.
4. Drive to school as early as 8th grade.
That’s right, we can drive at just 14 years old. Let that sink in.
5. Host a national motorcycle rally in a city with a population of 6,000.
For decades, Sturgis has been attracting motorcyclists from all over the country. What’s mind-blowing? Hundreds of thousands gather in this 6,600 population city each year! The 2015 official attendance was 739,000.
6. Pair chili with a cinnamon roll.
Some call this an odd pairing but don’t knock it until you try it. Most of us in South Dakota wouldn’t even fathom eating chili without a warm cinnamon roll to go with it.
7. Start wearing shorts even when there’s still snow on the ground.
You may think we’re crazy, but we swear that we really think it feels nice out.
8. Consider “lunch” a snack in-between the 3 main meals.
When we say "let’s do lunch" in South Dakota, we might just mean that we want to have a snack with you. Coffee and cookies anyone?
9. Have a closet full of winter coats.
You can just never have enough if you live in South Dakota.
10. Devour an entire kuchen, our official state dessert, in one sitting.
This sweet, custard-filled dessert was introduced to us by German settlers. It is truly irresistible to many South Dakotans.
11. Support the Vikings as if they were a South Dakota team.
We don’t have our own NFL team, but we might get pretty heated about yours.
12. Consider someone your “neighbor” even if they live miles down the road.
If you live in rural South Dakota, the word "neighbor" is certainly used more loosely.
We might be quirky, but people from South Dakota are proud of our roots. That's one reason we love it here! What are some other unusual things South Dakotans do that should be on our list?
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