10 Signs You Grew Up In The Midwest

The Midwest is a special place. Unlike other regions of the country, like the south or East Coast, there’s a bit more variety in every day living when you talk about an area that spans metropolitan life like in Chicago and rural living in Wisconsin. But yet and still, there are some behaviors that are undeniably Midwestern and if you do any of these, people will surely know that’s where you come from.

You did the chicken head for a few years

Anyone who lived in any Midwest state between 2003 and 2004 surely did this dance at least in public, and no doubt tried to battle dance someone with your chicken head skills at a party.

You call carbonated beverages pop

Ever traveled outside the Midwest and said you wanted a pop and no one had a clue what you were talking about? You just told on yourself.

You were fans of Nelly or Chingy

Look, 2000-2004 was the first time the Midwest sound really had any representation on the rap scene so you had to be a fan of either one of these guys on principle alone. You probably even threw J-Kwon some love when he came out with “Tipsy” in 2004. Long live the chicken head dance beat.

You actually greet people when you pass them on the street

Southerners may have so-called hospitality, but people in the Midwest just have plain good manners. When we pass a stranger, enter a place of business, or are serving someone we do something rather unique: smile and say hello.

You hustle or step

Detroit has hustles, Chicago has steppers. Depending on which city you were closest too, you had to do one or the other, if not both types of line dancing.

You Jit or Juke

Along the same lines as that last point, people in Detroit Jit; Chicagoans Juke. If you brought up those terms to anyone outside the Midwest, they’d have no clue what you were talking about.

You Listen To Ghetto House Music

Um, how are you going to Jit or Juke without rumpshaker-like uptempo music telling you to bounce and break your back?

You get pissed when people say you sound country

People on the East Coast just can’t comprehend that anyone below the Mason-Dixon is not southern, and not putting an “r” on the end of every word doesn’t make us country. Unless you’re from Minnesota or Missouri, all Midwesterners generally sound the same — and actually there’s nothing really distinctive about our “accent.” But we’ll be quick to stereotype everyone else and tell you, “if you wanna hear country, go down to x,y,z”

You don’t do public transportation

In the Midwest, taking a bus is a sign you or your family is too broke to afford a car, and it is the absolute last resort when it comes to getting from point A to point B. Subways, trolleys, and all that city transportation stuff didn’t quite stick in our region — aside from Chicago of course.