Does Chicago have the midwest hospitality?

[Chicago60614]

Also on the Greenpeace...

I was walking once and got the person darting RIGHT in front of me:

"do you care about the environment?"

I said "sorry, i'm running late, excuse me"

then had to rush past the person who was trying to position himself in front of me again. He yelled back

"DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT THE EARTH MAN?!"

so of course I spun around and yelled back:

"I HATE THE EARTH MORE THAN ANYTHING"

and kept walking. He just said "Oh come on man!!"


I mean seriously? I was walking very fast, wearing dress clothes and wearing my IPOD walking at 1pm with a look on my face like I wanted to bite a kittens head off. Did he really think I was going to stop in the middle of a packed sidewalk and chat with him about the environment? Wouldn't he have thought the 16 greenpeace people I walked by at the other end of the block might have stopped me?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by AlphabetCityNYC

Furthermore, I would like someone on this forum to please explain to me what 'Midwest Hospitality' is? Then I want you to tell me based on your understanding ... how do you think Midwest Hospitality compares to Southern Hospitality, East Coast Hospitality and West Coast Hospitality? Please base your answer on experience. If you haven't visited or lived in the South, East or West please do not answer.

Ive lived here almost my whole life, and travel extensively. I even lived in the south (TN) for a short while, so I feel qualified to answer. The good ol midwest hospitality.... what is it? If we dont like you or your views, we'll tell it straight to your face, regardless what you think. But at the same time, regardless of our opinion of you, we'd probably give you the shirt off your back if you really needed it. Does that help?

In large cities like Chicago that has an endless blend of cultures, that quality diminishes quite a bit, but its still there if you look for it. Last December I was in Chicago and a lady came out of a Walgreens and took a hard spill (and I mean HARD). Within 2 seconds flat, 2 different strangers rushed to her aid. One helped her up, the other put her stuff back in the bag for her. After she insisted she was fine, the two guys (who didnt know each other) stood around and talked, even offering to drive her to the hospital.

A few winters ago I was driving down Powis Road in West Chicago, Il following a young girl in a Saturn. Keep in mind that the snow was blowing hard at the time and it was a weekday night, around 9pm or so. Anyways, she goes into a ditch that had about 2-3' of snow in it. Needless to say, she was stuck, and bad. I pulled my truck up in front of her and offered to pull her out but couldnt get her out (4 banger lol). Not even 5 minutes later a cop pulled up and asked if we needed any help, which we obviously did. He knew the owner of the place of business we were stuck in front of and promptly called him and asked for a favor (we listened to his phone conversation) from him. He hung up the phone and told the girl to sit in his car until the guy showed up. Apparently he had a front loader that could get her out. He did this for the girl, offered her a warm car to sit in, and even the owner of the business came all the way out to help, all so she wouldnt have to pay a tow truck $75 to get her out.

Thats midwest hospitality. Its genuine, but blunt. Kind and forgiving, always willing to lend a helping hand. I dont experience that kind of hospitality anywhere else in this country. Er, at least not on the scale that I see here in the midwest.

Sorry for the book, but I figured Id give some examples as to what I see and have seen.