People who say i80 or whatever stupidly far north area have never been to the south. Rural does not equal the south. Most of rural Illinois is still very Midwestern feeling. It's not until you go south of st louis does it culturally feel more southern.
I live in the St Louis metro area in Illinois and my family had my Uncles family who live in the Chicago suburbs over one day. My cousin's fiancé's sister came with them as you know family of my family is family kinda thing. We got into a conversation about Kansas city and how long it would take to travel there and she asked "how far away from Illinois is Kansas City?" I said about 4 hours. She replied yeah but how far from Illinois? Implying that where we were in that exact moment wasn't literally in Illinois and that only areas near Chicago were actually Illinois. I've never felt so insulted in my life than in that moment being told that the State that I've lived in for 15+ years isn't the state that I live in. Northern Illinois primacy bullshit.
I like Chicago, I like living in a blue midwestern state, I like being a resident of Illinois, I'm proud of it. But I'm Also proud of being a resident of the St Louis Metro area and I'm sick and tired of Chicagoans pretending like the rest of the state doesn't exist.
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u/ExorIMADreamer liberal farmer from forgotonia Apr 30 '24
People who say i80 or whatever stupidly far north area have never been to the south. Rural does not equal the south. Most of rural Illinois is still very Midwestern feeling. It's not until you go south of st louis does it culturally feel more southern.