Mankato is home of the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Before all of the passive aggressive, fake smiling, grotesquely vanilla white Minnesotans moved to the area, the land called Mankato was inhabited by Dakota Sioux. In what is called the Dakota War of 1862 or Little Crow’s War, 303 indigenous people were sentenced to death. Every shitlib’s favorite president, Abe Lincoln, reduced this number somewhat, but many of the accused were still unjustly slaughtered with his OK.

In downtown Mankato, there is a place called Reconciliation Park. It exhibits a buffalo statue, a statue of a Native man, and some giant fake piece of paper. This stuff is supposed to represent reconciliation, which is really ridiculous and disgusting— just like most Minnesotans I’ve met. The park reminds me of one of their fake smiles with a tormented sociopath bubbling beneath the surface.

The public library is a short walk from Reconciliation Park. I occasionally went there when I needed to print something. The librarians were the meanest ones I have ever encountered in my life.

“Excuse me,” I would politely approach the reference desk, “But can I use a guest pass for the internet?”

“FINE,” the librarians would bristle, sulking up and toward the computers. I wrote letters of concern to the library, to let them know that their librarians were being foul. Both times resulted in the librarians being nicer to me in subsequent visits. A waterfall in the middle of the library created a serene, pouring noise that echoed ever so subtly while I did what I needed to do on the computers and sniff books. Most libraries stay open late into the evening, but the Mankato Winter hours usually made me leave by 5 PM. I couldn't figure out if they did this to save money, or because Mankato people were so stupid that they rarely went to the library, and there was no reason to keep a building open when there were no patrons. I couldn't figure out many things about the Mankato library, like why the librarians disliked me using their computers so much even though there were always a plentiful amount of open computers that were not being used.

Railroad tracks are within walking distance of Reconciliation Park and the library. Sometimes I looked at the freight trains and fantasized about hopping them, but never did. Mettler’s money is also within walking distance.