Well, I'm used to sticking up for the place. I'm kinda glad more people don't like it a lot. The folks who seem hardest on the Midwest are people who grew up here and haven't lived elsewhere--a lot more would like it if they'd lived through 9 month summers elsewhere or sat in traffic jams 6 lanes wide. At least you've traveled enough to have an informed opinion!
In the 19th century one of my great-great-grandfathers left Germany in search of a job. Family legend has it that he walked all the way from NYC to Pittsburgh, couldn't find a job, and was so mad that he stomped all the way to Milford before he calmed down enough to take a job. My father was the fourth generation of the Milford Nords dynasty, and he fled as soon as he finished college (at U of Cincy, of course) for a great job in Pittsburgh.
Shows how smart my father was in regard to the geographic part of the decision. But at least he met my mother there, although I was effectively held hostage for over 17 years.
Today I'm grateful that you're living in Ohio so that the national housing authorities don't try to enforce some sort of quota by asking me to move back there.
We're starting a new Hale Nords dynasty here, where some of Hawaii's harshest critics are the kama'aina. Their polemics of political favoritism, corruption, and graft are particularly amusing. These perspectives can usually be "seasoned" with a few seasons anywhere north of 30N, or any political experience in one of the nation's top ten metropolitan areas.
Last week my born-and-raised-in-Hawaii daughter complained bitterly about NROTC's workouts in Houston's 48-degree weather. (In
Houston!) I sure hope the Marine gunny sergeant didn't hear that high-pitched whining...
