The on-line headline today read: "Blizzard that socked Northern Plains takes aim at Midwest."
OK, this may be a pet peeve of mine, or, it may just be a matter of semantics. Here's the rub. I grew up in South Dakota and have lived all but about 8 years of my life in the Dakotas, Kansas and Minnesota. I truly believe that my roots are firmly attached in the Midwest.
A couple of years ago I was being considered for a chamber job in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A professional recruiter was assisting with the process. After several weeks and a couple of conversations with the recruiter, she told me that I was no longer in the running for the job because they were looking for someone from the Midwest. I was living in North Dakota at the time. When I asked her to define geographically the Midwest she said, "you know, from the Appalachian Mountains west to the Mississippi River and north of the Kentucky and West Virginia. You live in ND which is out west."
Geez, I'd always thought that everything between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River was the Midwest. Even a couple of those states on the eastern side of the river would also fall into that definition. But, Ohio or Pennsylvania...Midwest? Not in my book.
Wikipedia defines the Midwest as those north-central states from Ohio to the Dakotas and from Kansas to the Canadian Border.
I'm ready to concede Ohio, but dang it, what about Wyoming and Montana?
That's my opinion. What about yours?
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2 comments:
I lived the majority of my life in California, Washington, and Idaho. Even before I moved to the Midwest (as properly defined by Mr. Dan) I always wondered why Northwest University was not renamed Midwestern University around the time of its Centennial celebration in 1951. Moreover, why is West St. Paul, Minnesota actually south of St. Paul, Minnesota?
I think this map has an accurate description of the Midwest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Midwest6.jpg
I've always thought of Wyoming and Montana as "West."
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