Iowan Hospitality

Over the past couple months I’ve experienced Iowan Hospitality at its finest and it has simply made my day.

Case #1

While approaching Downtown Des Moines one night, I realized I was change-less. Well, near change-less anyway. The last of my nickels, dimes, and quarters had been spent on one of two things:

(1) An item from the vending machine, or
(2) A lotto ticket our whole department is SURE we’re going to win.

Well there was also that time all my change came rolling out of my purse in the parking garage and I thought, “Oh someone else needs this more than I. Let them have it.” In any case, I was unable to fill the parking meter for the full 45 minutes it demanded. I needed that change now. Pulling into a parking place, I searched my purse, searched my cup holders, searched my coat pockets, and searched the console. I came up with 20 cents! Praying this would be enough, while secretly knowing it would not, I got out of my car and proceeded to the half buried in snow parking meter. It was blinking a red EXPIRED. No help there. I starting feeding the parking meter: First, the dime. Second, the nickel. Last, the…this is the part where time slows and I see my final nickel careening toward the pile of snow only to get swallowed up. I bend over and start digging through the pile of snow. It’s GOT to be right on top. Just a little bit deeper. A little bit deeper.

Then I hear, “The meters stop running at 6.”

I respond, “Oh, I know, but I don’t even have enough change to get me there.”

“Here,” my Iowan Angel says to me as she hands me a quarter. JACKPOT!!!

“Thank you SO much,” I reply hopeful she is able to see how truly grateful I am.

I turn to put the quarter in the meter. 6 o’clock on the dot.


Case #2

Last Friday several inches of snow blanketed Des Moines in white. It didn’t come as a surprise. All the weathermen had forecasted it. And yet, the roads were a snowy, icy, slick mess. I was prepared for my normal 20 minute commute to take an hour. I was NOT prepared to get stuck up hill with a line of cars behind me. Approaching the hill I knew I would probably need some extra momentum to get to the top. I waited till the coast was clear and I gunned it (well as much as I could considering the circumstances). Then, a 4-door, made of steel, 4-wheel drive (do cars have 4-wheel drive? In this story they do), probably loaded down with some extra sandbags, white car pulled out in front of me (this, by the way, is NOT an example of the Iowan Hospitality I am so grateful for). I hit the break to avoid rear ending this car and then returned my foot to the gas. It was no use. No matter the amount of pressure I was applying to the peddle, my car was ever so gradually slowing down. Just a little further. You can do it. You’re almost there. Then, all forward moving progress was lost.

I ran through a list of options in my head and came up w/ one: Put more pressure on the gas and move your tires around. It was a good one, I know (sarcasm intended). But it didn’t help.

Then, a man out shoveling his walk came to my rescue. We tried backing it up to regain traction. We tried turning around. He tried pushing. We were all about ready to give up when another gentleman out running with his dog, approached us and asked if we needed help. You bet we did!

We got to work as the two gentlemen got to work pushing me up the hill. These men were WONDERFUL! In what seemed to me like an eternity (I worried the men were straining too hard, I worried I would run them or the dog over), these two men pushed me up the rest of the hill until I was moving on my own. I stuck my hand out the window and screamed, “THANK YOU” at the top of my lungs while waving. I sure hope they heard me.


Two WONDERFUL examples of Iowan Hospitality that most definitely made my day. I just HAD to share in hope that this hospitality would become contagious and stir you into action. I know it’s made me think about what I can do to make someone’s day just a little bit better.