Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations

by Thomas L. Friedman

Susan graduated from St. Louis Park High in 1960 and attended the University of Minnesota. Through her boyfriend at the time, she met an African student from Macalester College in St. Paul at a party. She remembered that “he was wearing a trench coat and a hat and looked like someone in one of the French crime movies.” So one day in the summer of 1962 she invited this exotic African and some other friends to their home in St. Louis Park—when her parents weren’t home. One of the neighbors, seeing black men enter the house, called the police. A few days later her dad sat her down to find out what happened. Susan sent me her recollection of the dialogue: My dad came to my room in the early evening, quite uncomfortable and hesitant. He was an old-school Swede. Dad: “Ummmm … have you had any … err … black … visitors recently?” Susan: “What’s this all about? Why are you asking me this?” Dad: “Ummm … ummmm … errrr … someone called the police to say black men were visiting the house while we were away, and the police called me.” Susan: “What? Who was it? Who called?” Dad: “Errr … ummm … they wouldn’t say…” Susan: “Okay, here are all the ‘men’ who came while you were gone: Fred, Kofi, David, etc., etc.…” Dad: “Wait, who’s Kofi?” Susan: “He’s Ghanaian, from Africa…” Dad: “Africa, so is he black?” Susan: “I guess so…” Later. Mom: “Let’s invite them all for dinner!” And so on a summer evening in 1962, the Macalester College student Kofi Annan and several of his friends drove back to S...