Many Chicagoans have an unhealthy obsession with berating surrounding states. (Ohio: home, college)

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

I would love any enlightenment re: "Won't shut up about their hands." What's that referring to? Hunting? Blue collar labor?

yeah that's the only one i can't figure out

[Vlajos]

Huh? I love both Wisconsin and Michigan. Iowa is nice too.

[tribecavsbrowns]

Originally Posted by Broadrippleguy

All i have to say is Agreed 10000%.
As we saw with other cities when you isolate yourself from the surrouding region bad things are coming.

Also Chi-Town Native that picture was downright hilarious. I need to save that cause that made my day

Yeah, whatever that means...

I'd argue the opposite of the premise of this thread, actually. Chicagoans in my experience like to engage people about where they're from and they actually have enough knowledge to keep the conversation going, unlike New Yorkers who have ridiculous notions of even the states that are right next to them.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

No - It's whenever you ask someone from Michigan where they're from, they instantaneously throw up their left paw and point out their origins on their hand.

ah, interesting, thanks!

[SJaye]

I'd say the phenomenon of actually berating the states around us is confined to the elitists. There are elitists everywhere you go, but there are more in big cities/ trendy neighborhoods. These same people actually also frequently berate parts of Chicago and the metro area for many of the same reason they berate these other states.

Most of the other times you hear people making comments about the surrounding states/ area it is either related to sports rivalries (especially St. Louis, Minneapolis, Detroit, Wisconsin), or sometimes it is even someone just making a joke. I like to make jokes about surrounding states all the time, but by no means hate them, and I am not making them from a Chicago is great and your state is worthless point of view.

So, I would say that it is unhealthy, but only for those few people that are actually elitists.
For the rest of us, I don't think there is anything unhealthy about occasionally making fun of how Wisconsinites look at anyone that says they don't like cheese curds as if they are some kind of an alien or something, or complaining about the Cardinals winning another world series when our team hasn't won one in over 100 years.

[Jandur]

You've clearly never been to Indiana.

[Lorielicious]

Originally Posted by SJaye

There are elitists everywhere you go, but there are more in big cities/ trendy neighborhoods. These same people actually also frequently berate parts of Chicago and the metro area for many of the same reason they berate these other states.

I was actually thinking this when I opened the thread, but it amused me more to make a crack about the rest of the Midwest. To be slightly more serious, I've encountered entirely too many people who peer over their monocles at any part of the city not on the North side along the Brown or Red Lines. "You mean you don't live in Lakeview? You may as well hang yourself with piano wire!"

[Payne222]

Come on. Unhealthy? Really? I say stuff about Wisconsin all the time, because it sucks. Same with all the other states surrounding us. Everyone I know who was raised in the area is like that. It's just like when you support a sports team. When the Red Wings come into town, I'm chanting, "Detroit SUCKS!" Is that unhealthy? No, that's part of a rivalry. Every state I've ever been to it's like that. We're not going out and killing people from Wisconsin and Indiana, just letting them know that they suck and we'll always be better.

[Aerio]

Originally Posted by jessicas4rabbits

This is just a casual observation. But it is prominent enough to topic. There seems to be an inordinate amount of berating by so many Chicagoans toward the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, etc. The most oddball and abusive relationship is with Wisconsin. There is almost like an inferior superior dynamic thing going on, but you would kinda expect the inferiority to come from Wisconsin more, but I see many Chicagoans exhibit inferiority traits, even about places like St Louis??! It seems that there is a lot of unprovoked hatred toward the neighbors and a lot of patronizing behavior, and you would think with the amount of time, energy, and money they spend in those other states, especially upper Wisconsin and Michigan, that Chicagoans could find better things to say about these places without sounding like douchnozzles. Realize there are those thousands of people originally FROM Wisconsin or even still live there who help Chicago's or Illinois' struggling economy too, and often every single day, not just on weekends in summer!

Having recognized your name from another post, I noticed that the trend with your comments (from your history) on this forum gravitates toward complaining about Chicago. Why do you post threads and commentary that consistently speak negatively about the same region or city, and what do you expect out of it?

[Attrill]

I've noticed very little animosity from Chicagoans towards other states, and I certainly haven't seen people being obsessed with it. The little animosity I have seen is balanced by people from other states complaining about Chicagoans. This is especially true when you get into touristy areas like Door County, Lake Geneva, or SW Michigan. The locals there are continually annoyed or amused by the cluelessness of vacationing Chicagoans.

You can find equivalents in any other part of the country - New Yorkers make fun of New Jersey, people in New Hampshire frequently use the term "Massh*le", and Texans look down on the rest of the country. There are plenty of global equivalents as well - just ask someone who's Cornish or Welsh what they think of the English. In all cases I think there is always a small percentage of people who might be more vocal in their opinions, but that's always a small minority, and Chicago is no different from the rest of the world.