Pride is a funny thing.
The French actually have two words for it: fierté and orgueil. The latter has an almost outright negative meaning. My French professor, a wonderful Swedish man, would curl the right side of his upper lip without fail each and every time he said it, “orrrhh…gohyyy.” He would curl it so much, in fact, that at first it almost seemed like he was doing an imitation of that random miserable person you occasionally try to say hello to on the street.
Dramatic? Yes. But, also, hilarious.
There is no outright synonym in English; at least not that I know of…but with each repetition, he’d explain that orgueil is excessive pride, with all its arrogance, vanity, haughtiness. The kind of pride that you know is unjustified. The scene will continue to play in my mind and so I am unlikely to forget the word. But I also believe I remember it for another reason. Because, as a Wisconsinite, do we believe in any other kind of pride?
There is much to proud of always. But it seems Wisconsin and Midwesterners as a whole, default to being modest and unassuming. Why do we have such a hard time with pride? Wisconsin was the first state that made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their sexual orientation and splinter free toilet paper was patented here. And our voter turnout ranks among the top five in the country. I am quite sure that I have very politely worked these facts into conversations with non-midwestern friends over the years, even if it’s been modestly and wince inducing.
Pride has been front of mind for much of this year as we recognize and celebrate our 20th anniversary. The fear is that pride will give way to orgueil. Yet, I am pushing through it with helpful reminders. Joe Lawniczak, the historic preservation and design specialist for the state Main Street program, visiting Monroe this week for our monthly design meeting, commented that it is easy to see how much has been accomplished in Monroe. He remarked that downtown Monroe has always been beautiful, but now it is stunning: from the flowerpots to the facades to the art pieces to the stores. A fun fact: Joe’s wife, Susan, was actually the first Main Street director. Like so many of you, he remembers Monroe 20 years ago. Yet he does not live here. The changes seem less gradual to him. The contrast is striking. He also remembers her telling him when Monroe Main Street Initiative became Main Street Monroe. His retort? “So you’ve lost all your initiative, eh?”
Since 2005, over $1 million of volunteer time has been donated and there have been 43 net new businesses and over 300 rehab projects downtown. Plus, hundreds of events. Without discussing anything of this, Joe ended his time at the meeting by telling us that we couldn’t be further from losing our initiative.
It’s been 20 years of rolling up our sleeves, progress, perseverance, and quiet determination; sometimes too quiet. I would like to write without hesitancy that we’ve got every right to feel proud and stand a little taller. I’ll just be keeping orgueil and my Midwestern upper lip in check.
— Jordan Nordby is the executive director for Main Street Monroe. He can be reached at MonroeMainStreet@tds.net. Complete details on Main Street Monroe and its efforts can be found at mainstreetmonroe.org.
