Hi Vail, always a pleasure!
Nope, I made it up. When I moved here, one of the advertising reps that I had dealt with at my previous employer in Kansas greeted me with: Welcome to the Mid West. Kind of started me off wrong! I told her that I had just left the Mid West, what the hell was she talking about.
It is just a geography thing with me. Here is how I see it:
Eastern Seaboard should remain the same, East Coast.
Penn to Illinois should be Mid-East, and of course the states North and South of them.
Minn on down to Texas should be Mid.
Colorado to Nevada should be Mid West and the states above an below.
Left coast should be West Coast.
It is so hard to change the world.
As far as Chicago being like Mid Westerners, are your light switches on the right when when you walk in a room, especially the bathroom?
Are your outlets put in the wall sideways instead of vertical?
Are you expected to end a sentence in a preposition?
Do you have four or five complete product lines of Pasta in the grocery store?
Can you buy Olive oil in a five gallon pale at the same store?
Oh well, just having fun.
Wheaton is a very nice town, one village over from me.