We asked the BuzzFeed Community to share things only people from Illinois would understand. Here are the all-too-real results.
1. First of all, you don't feel like a ~sterotytypical~ Midwesterner, because you're not surrounded by corn fields and tractors like everyone thinks.
2. Taking a family vacation usually means going to Six Flags, Wisconsin Dells, or Key Lime Cove. AND YOU LOVE IT.
3. And the best field trips growing up were to the Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, or Brookfield Zoo.
—Angela Skeggs Hardi, Facebook
4. Even if you're from the 'burbs, you sometimes say you're from Chicago — because it's easier than explaining where Bolingbrook is. SORRY, ACTUAL CHICAGOANS.
5. The weather is the actual definition of fickle: You could see sun, rain, hail, and snow all in a single day.
7. However, it's possible to get “cold days” when it's -43 degrees with a windchill. Bless you, Tom Skilling.
8. You have to choose between the Cubs OR the White Sox — you can’t love both.
—Jordan Christine, Facebook
9. But all other sports fandoms are pretty non-negotiable.
—Beatrice Jane, Facebook
11. Oh, and Gene's & Jude's is pretty damn fantastic, too.
—Daniel Richards, Facebook
12. Lou Malnati's and Giordano's are the absolute best for deep-dish. Don't @ us.
13. LSD is short for "Lake Shore Drive," and not the drug, folks.
14. We've spent half our lives in traffic, so we aren't always the happiest drivers.
15. In school, you thanked Casimir Pulaski every year for a day off in March... but had no idea who he was, tbh.
16. You're always filled with intense pride when you see a movie filmed in or about northern Illinois.
17. The Eagle Man commercial is still one of the funniest, cheesiest commercials ever made.
18. These jingles will be etched in your brain forever.
♫ beep beep beep beep, LUNAAAAAAAAAA ♫
19. You know who this guy is.
20. You get personally offended when someone calls the Sears Tower anything but just that.
21. And even though northern Illinois is anything but perfect, you'll always be proud as hell to be from this insane place.
