I love being from the Midwest

There is just something special about being from the Midwest, but I gotta ask, why do we do some of the things we do???

I was scrolling through Facebook endlessly last night, just trying to keep my mind off things before going to bed, when I ran into a Buzzfeed article called "Questions People From The Midwest Need to Answer" and it blew my mind. Now mind you I have lived in the Midwest my whole life (mostly) born in Chicago (best city in the world) raised in the suburbs of Chicago, went to college at Northern Illinois University in rural Dekalb, IL, then moved to Chicago (lived there for 5 years) before coming down to Quincy to work for KICK-FM. Also my mom and dad are Midwest lifers, as well as most of my direct and extended family, I'm as Midwest as they come!

But there were 3 questions in this Buzzfeed article that just kept confusing me...so here they are lets see if you can help me out, ok?

1.) Why do we say "ope" when we have to move around someone/something?

This is a classic Midwest conundrum...I say it, my coworkers say it, my family says it, my friends say it. Where did 'OPE" come from? Don't get me wrong, I love it, but where did that phrase originate from? I don't know...

2.) No yeah = yes, Yeah No = no, and No yeah for sure = Definitely.

This one hits me deep to my core. I had no idea I did this until I read this article but I do. I use these phrases all the time as opposed to just saying YES, NO, or Definitely. How did this start? Does anyone else do this?

3.) Why do Midwesterners struggle to drive in the snow?

This will always confuse me, we are all born and raised in the snow, and yet as soon is it starts snowing people panic and can't handle it. Obviously its not easy to drive in the snow but come on we should all be experts, and we know not everyone in the Tri-States is good at driving in the snow...

To check out the full list of questions from the article on Buzzfeed click here!