Forward is the motto of Wisconsin and you can generally judge a Badger by their sunny, positive disposition.

Sure, Wisconsinites are not the best tippers. The old saying is that if you see a portly fellow go into a Florida bar, order a Brandy Old Fashioned and leave a lousy tip, you just met somebody from Wisconsin.

On a brighter note, Wisconsinites are known for working hard, grinning and bearing it. We’re people who “don’t need help” and when cut likely joke, “It’s just a flesh wound.”

Just about the only time people appear to get grouchy is at the end of winter. After too many gray days and endless snow to shovel, we’re zombies. If you have little natural pigmentation in your skin, like myself, your skin gets almost translucent. Wisconsinites coming out of winter are like grizzly bears coming out of their dens after winter. We’re logy, tired, growly and need to get moving.

One unfortunate difference between us and those bears is that a step on the scale reveals that Christmas cookies, meatballs, cheese and sausage, Tom and Jerrys and hot chocolate added more pounds.

So, to work out the grouchiness, get some sunshine and get a notch or two back on the belt, we head outside looking for something to do.

Some people find gardening gets them moving. My neighbors along South Rock Avenue have so many colorful flowers out it looks like Mother Nature waved her wand and everything came into bloom at once.

And since I live adjacent to the Viroqua Farmers Market, there’s nothing like a Saturday morning stroll up and down the aisles of vendors.

You run into friends and acquaintances, pick up fresh onions, honey, buffalo sticks, chocolate brownies and homemade salsa. The sunshine and fresh air work wonders.

I’ve always thought of myself as a person who would look at a glass and say it was half full rather than half empty. I’d rather say something positive and righteous than zap somebody with “negative waves.”

Being the managing editor of the newspaper brings me in touch with many visitors to Vernon County. I’m constantly told how nice people are here.

I talked to a couple who had moved to the area with their children from South Dakota a few years ago. They came by the newspaper office to get a subscription and had three children starting school locally the next fall.

As I stood in the front office talking with them, they started telling me the differences between the small city they had lived in in South Dakota and Viroqua.

“My neighbor waves at me when I’m driving down Main Street -- In fact, almost everybody in my neighborhood waves to me when they see me out. Is it like that all the time?”

“When I go to the store the person in front of me holds open the door. Is it like that all the time?”

“People are always smiling and saying hello. Is it like that all the time?”

I didn’t think that South Dakota would be so bad. So, I inquired about the place they had lived and how different it was from little old Viroqua.

“Well, if this was the newspaper from where we were living, you wouldn’t be talking to us now. You’d be too important, wearing a suit and too stuffy to bother.”

Over the years I have occasionally wore a tie to work. I dread doing it, because people ask if I’m going to a wake or if I have an interview for another job. I’m serious.

The first day I came to work at the Broadcaster I wore a tie. Our office manager, Linda Fortney, told me I had to stop that.

“You’ll scare everybody,” she said.

So, button-up shirts turned to polo shirts. I take time to talk to everybody that comes in the office with a question for me. People are usually kind even if they disagree with me.

I’m proud to be from Wisconsin. I’m know people from other places are nice, but I can’t personally see being from anywhere other than right here.

E-mail Matt Johnson at matt.johnson @lee.net.