Confession time? Confession time:

I used to be someone like her. I'm from a small town in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest but I claimed to be from Chicago (closest major city people give a damn about) only went there once every few years. Basically the stolen valor is about trying to feel like you're from an important place and to make one seem less "normal".

Eventually I grew up when I realized no one really cared either way. Where I grew up does not make me interesting, and there's a ton of racist people in the "cool" places in California and New York. Conversely, one really cool guy I met in college came from deep red Texas. Accent and everything. He understood where I was coming from but he helped a lot in getting me to just own it. Yeah, I say "ope" and call soda "pop", that doesn't make me a "dirty racist normie"

Yeah, my childhood was kinda boring. But that can't be helped.