For someone who has grown up living in Chicago all her life, I’ve only ever been bothered by one thing. Now it has nothing to do with the people of Chicago, or the red light cameras, or even the many many potholes. The thing that has always bothered me is about people who claim that they’re from Chicago when they really aren’t. This not only applies to people who live right outside of Chicago’s boarders, but to people who travel outside of the United States that live in the Midwest.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that when people take trips outside the state or country they tell others that they’re “from Chicago.” Here’s one example, I was speaking to a person who was telling me about a trip that they took out of state. They were speaking to a group of people who were from Massachusetts, when the people [from Massachusetts] asked about where they were from, the people replied, “oh we’re from Illinois.” When the locals asked where specifically, the people replied from Chicago, little did they know these people were from Aurora.

Now, for most people, this wouldn’t be such a huge deal, however, for me this is and will always be a “big deal.” I was born and raised on the South side of Chicago, I’ve attended grammar school, middle school, and ever high school all in the city of Chicago. So for people to tell others that they’re from Chicago bothers me. I’ve lived in Chicago for all twenty years of my life, so excuse me when I get upset for people claiming to be from my home. Going to college in Lisle, Illinois, this topic is often brought up a lot!

Now initially hearing this, I was bothered for a couple different reasons. The first reason was that the people were not “from Chicago,” they weren’t even close enough, (like Oak Lawn or Lansing Illinois) to make that statement. The second, was because just as easy as they were able to tell people that they’re from Chicago, these people were able to tell them that they clearly were from Massachusetts, but that they weren’t from Boston. Here’s one reason why this bothers me. There are seven continents in the world. One of these continents includes Europe, in Europe, there are around 50 countries, and in each of these countries there are states and cities, why is it that the people from these places will easily tell someone where they’re from, yet people from the United States all just casually associate themselves in the “most common,” location in America? Why is it that when people think of American they automatically think “Chicago?” Here’s why, Chicago is widely talked about on television shows as well as movies. It is also the third largest city in the United States. If a map were drawn of the actual United States how it is really and the perspective of someone from a state other than Illinois, there would be numerous differences based on stereotypes.

United States Map (expectations)

United States Map (reality

Now, although I understand that this would be “easier,” to just say you’re from a well populated area, but why not just tell people where you’re from exactly? They’re not going to be angry if you tell them that you’re not from Chicago, it’s not like 95% of Americans are form Chicago. Why would they be surprised if you tell them that you’re from somewhere else? What would the difference be if you merely pulled up a map and showed people exactly where you’re from? For one, it would help to inform people in other countries that 1) not all people from America are from Chicago and 2) it would help to inform people of other areas in the United States. Not only that, but once people say they’re from another area these people will start to hear more about the other areas in the United States. Just as well, there could also be other tourist/visitors from the same area and you could meet people from your home state when traveling out of state.

Besides stating exactly where you’re from when you’re traveling, saying that you’re “from Chicago,” bothers most people who are actually from here. Many people who live geographically close to Chicago also state that they’re from here as well, but unless your state ID or driver’s license states “Chicago, Illinois,” sorry to say, but you’re not from Chicago either. If you want to go around and tell people you’re from Chicago you might as well move there, then you too can be a Chicagoan.

Another thing that has always bothered me about people who say they’re form Chicago is that they can clearly say that there from here, but at the end of the day they don’t have to deal with Chicago’s “problems.” For people who live in Chicago, you know the everyday struggles of the many unfilled potholes, you know the not so friendly CTA train riders, as well as how bipolar the weather is.

Now I understand that many people don’t understand why it is such a “big deal,” to say that you’re from a well populated city, especially when you live in such close proximity. However, the main issue is that people who state that they’re “from Chicago,” do not have to deal with the problems that come with living in Chicago. They do not have to deal with the crowded down town area, the many protests, the potholed streets, the gun violence, or the controversies and issues that come with Chicago Police. These people do not have to wake up worrying about walking outside their door or whether or not they need to worry about hearing gun shots. They get to live their lives in their quiet neighborhoods and at the end of the day, Chicago’s problems,” belong to the people of Chicago.

This being said, as people who have lived in Chicago all our lives, we deal with these things every day. We’ve come to deal with our “problems,” because we were born and raised here and we know how to deal with these things. However, this does not mean that everything about Chicago is bad. For one, we have amazing pizza. We have many really cool tourist attractions including the Bean, the Art Institute of Chicago, Navy Pier, the Water Tower, our zoos and museums, and our famous Willis (Sears) tower Skydeck. Now that I think about it, I really don’t blame everyone for wanting to tell people that they’re from my city because it truly is amazing; but in the end, never feel as though you need to tell someone where you're from out of convince, always be proud of where you’re from.