1-10 Simplify
Seemly underbelly. If anyone sees the problems in a city, it's the beat cops. With two murders, 2003 was a hectic year for homicide detectives, but Bismarck's 89 sworn officers are kept busy with the lesser manifestations of human pain and frailty. There's been a recent spike in methamphetamine use, says Officer Michael McMerty, an eight-year veteran of the force. Meth labs often pop up in farming areas like Bismarck, he notes, because ammonia fertilizer is one of the drug's ingredients. "Overall, this is still a nice, safe town," says McMerty's sergeant, Steven Kenner. "But it's a city with growth pains. We're starting to hit the outer edge of what we can handle."
Still, the first eight hours of the Friday overnight shift are quiet, producing a handful of domestic disputes, a few traffic violations, and a single DUI charge. A liquor store calls in to report that employees are holding a minor for trying to make a purchase several months before his 21st birthday. McMerty waits until after a good frisking before letting on that he knew it was a sting--the kid was working with the police to see if the liquor store would check his ID. The officers all insist that this is an unusually slow night, but then again, everyone keeps pointing out that the weather really is usually much worse, too.
Maybe they just don't want the rest of us to feel bad about our own towns and cities. Or maybe they know how good they have it and don't want a nosy reporter to spill the beans. "If you tell people about it, they might come here," says Potter warily. Rogers, taking a slug of coffee, finishes the thought: "And screw it up." But don't worry about the gruffness. Bismarck is usually much friendlier than this--really.
[Map labels]
North Dakota
Bismarck
-Thomas Hayden
10. Quit your job
At 28, John Doyle was an overworked New York investment banker on the fast track. By most measures, he was a success. But he was also miserable. So during a semiannual review 2 1/2 years into the job, he simply quit. "Almost immediately I lost 35 pounds," says Doyle. For four months, he did little more than relax, rollerblade through Central Park, and read books. "Honestly, it was one of the happiest times in my life," he says.
After moving back to his mother's house, working for no pay as a line chef in a hip Chelsea restaurant for six months, and then relocating to Philadelphia, Doyle finally found his niche. As the founder and co-owner of John and Kira's Jubilee Chocolates, an artisanal chocolate company that promotes social change, Doyle expects to do half a million dollars in sales this year. His partner and wife, Kira Baker-Doyle, whom he met through social activism circles, is pregnant and due in March. The Food Network is featuring the couple in a reality show. "Quitting is extremely liberating," says Doyle, now 35. "It allows you to open up, listen to yourself closely, and hear things that you couldn't hear before."
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