THE FIRST ALL-WATER BAR

Northeast Minneapolis is going to have the first full-fledged water bar of its kind, an establishment where you can sit and drink a variety of local tap waters. Their motto: “Water is all we have.” The Water Bar is no joke. It’s the culmination of work from a team of Minneapolis “social practice artists” who specialize in community engagement, and the idea is to start calling attention to the importance of communal water systems. Shanai Matteson, one of the founders of the Water Bar, says, “People think Minnesota doesn’t have any water problems, that we have so much water because we’re the land of 10,000 lakes. Water is not something people think about, but we have potential water shortage problems and water quality problems.” The Water Bar will serve local tap water, primarily Minneapolis tap water, but they’ll have other local metro area waters, maybe some tap waters from other parts of Minnesota. The idea, says Matteson, is to help people talk about their connections to tap water.
* Our connections to tap water, like, the pipes under the street?
* Fascinating, in a “this-is-not-at-all-fascinating” sort of way.
* If you’re new to water, order the Minneapolis. If you want something stronger, try the Flint, Michigan.
* Sure. Drive across town and pay more for some stuff you can have for less in your own home.
* I don’t know about the water, but these businessmen are really going to take a bath on this.
* They’re going to get soaked!
* You can find the Water Bar right next to the new Air Restaurant.
* The idea is to help people talk about their connections to tap water? Is that a big problem?
* “I want to say something about my tap water … No … I just can’t. It’s too painful.”
* That idea’s so lame you can barely even call it an idea.
* One sign that an idea is shaky is when you say to yourself, “Gee, I wonder if this entire story is a hoax?”