OK, got back from deepest Iowa last night, after a simply wonderful time at Buena Vista University. Do you want to know how nice Midwesterners are? Here’s how nice.

A lady from the cash department (or whatever it’s formally called—you know what I mean) came up to me while I was chatting with a faculty member in a corridor, and gave me a pre-addressed & stamped envelope with which to mail in my expense claims. I thanked her, finished chatting to the prof., and headed for the library. Before I got there the aforementioned lady came running after me, in a state of great embarrassment, gave me a long and deep apology, and handed me… the two cent step-up postage stamp she’d forgotten to put on the envelope.

And here’s how nice: I have an emailbox full of messages from BVU students & faculty, thanking me for showing up.

Put me down as a big fan of the Midwest.