Minneapolis--St.Paul, Minnesota is a beautiful metropolitan area: great schools, great health care, sophisticated and a very urban area. Venture outside of Minneapolis- St. Paul and one finds a state that boasts as its motto "The land of 10,000 lakes." Minnesota is indeed a beautiful and diverse state.
The biggest tourist attraction of the last decade is the Great Mall of America. With more than 400 stores and a theme park occupying the middle, the Mall attracts visitors from the other 49 states and from around the world. Use to be Northwest Airlines, headquartered in Minneapolis, would sponsor charter flights from Europe and Japan for shoppers to visit and spend Yen and Euros at the Mall.
The Twin Cities is also a major corporate headquarter city with the likes of 3M (NYSE: MMM), Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Medtronic (NYSE: MDT), US Bank (NYSE: USB), General Mills (NYSE: GIS) and many others. The Minneapolis-St.Paul Airport is a major hub in the U.S. with Northwest Airlines as its principle occupant.
But all of that pales before "The Bathroom."
Idaho Senator Larry Craig had, uh, "an issue" in the main men's room at the airport back in June. As the sordid details have come out, Senator Craig's career may come down to the infamous expression " I take a wide stance." Guilty or not (he plead guilty to a misdemeanor and is now trying to have it reversed), the men's room has become an A-list tourist attraction.
Travelers from around the country and the world are asking airport employees "where THE bathroom is." Tourists have been seen photographing the outside and yes, even the inside of the main men's room located in the center of the main terminal. Many employees have resorted to an auto-response even before the tourist can finish the question! The shoe shine stand located next to the men's room is apparently experiencing record business. Only in America..
The beautifully crafted image of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area has been, hopefully, only temporarily tainted by this obscure Senator from Idaho. If he re-appears in court to have his conviction overturned, the circus will only get worse. Minneapolis suffered the tragedy of the I35W bridge collapse six weeks ago and has garnered the sympathy and the prayers of the nation. Now we may be better known for a men's room at our airport.
Please visit the Mall of America or come and fish in one of our beautiful lakes. I promise you a great time in the Twin Cities and we'll leave you alone if you need to visit the rest room.
Georges Yared is the CIO of Yared Investment Research and lives in the Minneapolis- St. Paul Metro area.
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