According to some website that seems pretty legit, there are roughly 3 million residents of the city of Chicago. This number is probably 10 times smaller than the amount of people who claim to be from Chicago.
Here's the problem - anyone from the state of Illinois will tell outsiders they're from Chicago, because really what else is there in the Prairie state? You could be a 45 minute drive outside of the city and people are still claiming they're from Chicago.
THEN, anyone with a phone number with the area code "219" also claims they're from Chicago. You see, the 219ers are all from Northwest Indiana, which is essentially neighbors to the South side of Chicago's city limits. So these people also claim they are Chicagoans as well if any out of towners ask them.
Add the 219ers with the yuppie suburbanites from the surrounding areas, and all the sudden Chicago is the most populated place ever. (I wonder if this happens in other big cities too...)
To all my friends from the lovely Northwest Indiana, (And I mean that in all sincerity I am a huge fan of basically everyone i've met from Hammond, Merrillville, pretty much everywhere in Lake County besides Gary.) BUT you are NOT from Chicago. Your not even in the same state! Have some friggen pride! Say "I'm from the 219, we're right outside Chicago." Don't lie to people and say your from the city.
And to all the suburbanites of Illinois who claim to be from Chicago, please - for the love of God - stop doing this. Your not from Chicago. Quit trying to sound cool. If someone asks you where you're from, it takes five more seconds to say, "I'm from Hinsdale Illinois, 15 miles West of Chicago." AND another thing Suburban posers, if you hear someone from Northwest Indiana say they're from Chicago don't give them shit either. Most of them live closer to city limits than you do.
Until you actually live within the confines of Chicago, don't tell people you live in the city. I typically don't mind liars that much - but when you dare claim to be a resident of the greatest city in the world - and really you're just some mini-van driving asshole from Wheaton - I take offense.
(And no, I've never lived in Chicago, but i've never claimed to either. So you can all eat it.)
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It was with a heavy heart that I posted this one.
ReplyDeleteI am most certainly guilty of doing this.
That being said, I went to a school in Massachusetts that had people from all over the country. It was just easier to say Chicago. Likewise with people from Seattle, Houston, Philadelphia, etc.
Sorry Tom-o. Sorry to have let you down.
I studied abroad with a girl from MILWAUKEE who went around telling people she was from Chicago...that one made me mad.
ReplyDeleteKimberly,
ReplyDeleteI'll give you that one.
Now, the kicker is, was she from Milwaukee or from a suburb or Milwaukee.
OOOoooh the plot thickens! We need to get other big cities and ask them if they encounter this problem as well.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking about this with Carly. There is a strict set of guidelines I use when telling people where I'm from:
ReplyDelete-To people from Chicago: "Burr Ridge". If they don't get that "Hinsdale" if they don't get that, they're probably retarded and I don't care.
-To people from anywhere else: "Chicago". If they are familiar with the city, repeat the above steps, and add an additional "Halfway between Naperville and the city" if necessary.
Is this acceptable?
But the deepest circle of hell is reserved for people from Indiana who claim to be from Chicago. Such as my friends roommate who could not figure out where I live even after ALL OF THE ABOVE CLUES. CLEARLY not from Chicago.
But some people from Indiana are technically closer to Chicago than most people from Illinois.
ReplyDeleteI guess I wasn't really that upset about this, I just liked the picture of the pissed off little kid giving the finger.
Yeah, that one really was a winner.
ReplyDeleteI read in a newspaper once that Elmhurst was a suburb of Naperville. I still get mad about it.
ReplyDeleteF-ing Naperville.
ReplyDeleteThe New York Yankees of the Western Suburbs of Chicago.