May I Have Your Attention Please!

Something has been bothering me lately, so I decided this is the best place to get it off of my chest......

A lot of people refer to Illinois as "the North," and when I lived in Tennessee, there were people who thought of me as a "yankee." In fact, my husband, who grew up in Tennessee, teases me about being a yankee all the time. I would like to clear one thing up. Now listen close. I AM NOT A YANKEE!!! People from Chicago are yankees, and we in southern Illinois despise them as much as people in the South do. I may not have been born and raised in the South. That's true enough, and I would never classify myself as a Southern Belle. I'm not, but I also am not a Yankee. I am a Mid-Western farm town girl!!

I was born and raised in a small farm community. I was once woken up at 3 am because my grandma's cow was giving birth to twins. I know how to shuck corn and snap green beans. I know the difference between John Deere and International. I also know that to farmers, that debate is just as huge as Ford vs. Chevy to car guys. Some of the biggest name brands worn in my school were Carhart and Wrangler. One of the biggest and most popular clubs in my high school was not the drama club or the Latin club...it was the FFA! In fact, one week of the school year was devoted to that club. They drove their tractors to school, and one day of that week every year, my homeroom would be turned into a barnyard when they all brought their farm animals to school. It was okay though. Living in a farm community, most of us were used to the smell. I personally know two people who were seriously injured in bull riding accidents. I've seen tractor pulls, demolition derbies, and rodeos. I know how to bait my own hook and catch a fish. I live in a part of the state where, on the first day of shot gun season, they declare it Deer Day and let school out. I know what corn fields and freshly mowed hay smell like....very well. In fact, living in Tennessee, I rarely smelled it and got homesick for that smell. Weenie roasts and hayrides are a yearly occurence. I live closer to Kentucky than I do to Chicago. Does that sound like a yankee to you? Of course not! Because I AM NOT A YANKEE!!!

Furthermore, Illinois is not a liberal state. Granted, it usually goes to the Democratic candidate, but we are not a liberal STATE. Chicago is liberal. In the 2004 presidential elections, statistics showed that 7/8 of the state voted for Bush but because Cook County holds the biggest population and is liberal, the state went to Kerry. That happens all the time. The state is not liberal. Chicago is. Chicago and southern Illinois are like two different states, and most of us in southern Illinois wish they were!

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the South, and I miss Tennessee like crazy. There are definitely differences from there to here, but they are not as drastic as people down there think. So please, if I ever get to move back, don't call me a yankee!