People from Illinois are a lot of things. We know sports. We’re cultured. We hike and bike. We’re compassionate. But we’re also extremely tough. Here are nine reasons why people from Illinois are unbelievably tough:

  1. The value of hard work has been instilled in us

USDA/Flickr Our farming roots have made sure of that.

  1. We’ve gotten through bad times in Illinois sports

Mike Morbeck/Flickr

  1. We’ve united in strength over some tough times

State Farm/Flickr Illinois has had its share of natural disasters and we’ve gotten through them.

  1. We deal with horrible weather…a lot

Joshin Yamada/Flickr Extreme weather, extreme weather changes–we’ve been there, done that.

  1. We’ve hosted some notorious characters

Recuerdos de Pandora/Flickr

  1. We deal with some terrible driving conditions

Steven Vance/Flickr Whether it’s a few feet of snow or waiting three hours to get into work, we’ve driven in it.

  1. We have dealt with not being quite as cool as NYC

Rishad Daroowala/Flickr Yes, we’re plenty cool, but there’s a little bit of an inferiority complex going on.

  1. We co-exist with some interesting people on public transportation

Erin Nekervis/Flickr

  1. Despite our differences, we unite

SEIU Local 1/Flickr We might have completely different political views, but we can come together over the important stuff.

Why else do you think people from Illinois are insanely tough? Let us know in the comments.

USDA/Flickr

Our farming roots have made sure of that.

Mike Morbeck/Flickr

State Farm/Flickr

Illinois has had its share of natural disasters and we’ve gotten through them.

Joshin Yamada/Flickr

Extreme weather, extreme weather changes–we’ve been there, done that.

Recuerdos de Pandora/Flickr

Steven Vance/Flickr

Whether it’s a few feet of snow or waiting three hours to get into work, we’ve driven in it.

Rishad Daroowala/Flickr

Yes, we’re plenty cool, but there’s a little bit of an inferiority complex going on.

Erin Nekervis/Flickr

SEIU Local 1/Flickr

We might have completely different political views, but we can come together over the important stuff.

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