I know a dude from Michigan who insists Minnesota is not the Midwest. I won’t show him this map because offering facts and statistics doesn’t change his mind about anything.
I believe it’s because these states are west of the Mississippi River and something something Louisiana Purchase (high school history was decades ago).
Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan are east of the Mississippi. We couldn't reliably cross the Appalachian Mountains until shortly before the American Revolution. Expeditions before Daniel Boone forged the Wilderness Road had to go around so the most direct route between NY and where Chicago is now went about halfway down Alabama. The Appalachians were the original western frontier and the Midwest was the Northwest Territories. As the country expanded westward and new territories were established and the Northwest Territories gained statehood they became the Midwest.
Yeah, living in Colorado has always been weird hearing that we’re “the west”. We’re about as middle of the country as you can get. 3 states to our west to get to the Pacific, 4 states to the east to get to the Atlantic.
I never have figured out how to categorize Oklahoma, but Midwest has never been on my Oklahoma bingo card. It’s more like a less affluent extension of Texas that is full of bogus slot machines and smells like weed everywhere.
There is some surprisingly pretty land up there though. Growing up I always thought of it as a barren dust bowl wasteland. Lots and lots of trees in reality, at least in the eastern half. Don’t know what’s in the panhandle. I’m not sure anybody does.
Edit: Just as I finished typing this, a commercial came on the TV. To quote, and no I’m not kidding, “Live the flyover life. Move to Oklahoma.”
I was born in Southern Arkansas and have lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma for 40 years. I consider myself a Southerner, not a Midwesterner. But that’s self-reported.
The joke here goes “You know why Texas doesn’t slide off into the Gulf of Mexico? Because Oklahoma sucks so hard.”
But truth be told, Tulsa is a pretty nice place to live. About half a million people and fairly progressive for a “Southern” state. And while many of the the hardcore conservatives moved to Texas, you still see a lot of Trump flags here.
Texan here. Oklahoma definitely has more in common with Kansas than Texas. I’d call it Great Plains, which has a lot of overlap with the midwest but isn’t quite the same thing.
Minnesotan here. Minnesota is in the midwest if that’s the question you’re asking. Minnesota is chock full of proud northerners who have nothing to do with the midwest if you’re asking that question instead.
One thing I can say about Minnesotans is that we’re culturally odd.
We’ll take care of eachother, but don’t expect pleasant hellos and conversations with anyone. There are a lot of people that hunt, not a lot of people that hunt well or frequently. The Mall of America isn’t as awesome as when you were a kid. The death of Prince was a State Tragedy. To outsiders, no, Minnesota does not consist of Duluth, the Twin Cities, and snow filled cornfields. Yes it’s too damn cold. Yes it’s too damn warm for this time of the year. No we won’t quit complaining either way. Say yes to lefsa. Always safe with a caserol at a dinner party.
Never state something in a way that conveys your opinion or feelings too strong. That’s rude. Never stand too close to or facing straight towards people in a conversation. That’s rude. Don’t get too involved. That’s rude.
Do smile and raise a hand when you see someone you might know, or someone who does it to you regardless if you can identify them or not.
Skol!
Edit: So I asked my brother, and while he too was aware of hotdish being the correct entrée for a combination of ingredients baked in a pan, he also defaults to caserol. I think it’s because our parents and extended family do not live here. For those confused, tater tot hotdish != tater tot caserol
Yep, and it’s really obvious if you’ve driven into the state from the east. You find yourself wondering when you’re gonna get to Colorado and realize you’ve been driving in it for 3 hours, it just looks exactly the same as the last 10 hours.
Same thought. No one here thinks it’s the midwest. It’s the west and very apparent. Ghost towns start popping up for attractions, everything’s about the mountains, camping, hiking, skiing/snowboarding.
In fact, weird outliers are a sign that the numbers weren’t cooked. In polling, you’ll always find a Christian who thinks Jesus isn’t real, an Atheist who thinks the ten commandments should be posted in classrooms, people who think Sonic tastes good, and other equally strange and nonsensical results.
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