The Midwestern urge to say «ope» instead of «oops» or «excuse me» is so strong. We can’t help the fact that it’s simply a better turn of phrase than anything else. I guess it’s more of an utterance, a syllable instead of a turn of phrase, but still. It’s percussive without being abrasive. It says a lot without saying much at all. It’s the perfect thing to pepper into your everyday speech, just to show that you’re a true Midwesterner. 

It’s a wonderful time of year to be a Midwesterner indeed. Baseball opening days are finally kicking off, and we’re getting ready for a summer of day drinking and eating multiple hot dogs in one sitting (not that we don’t do that every other time of year). We’re defrosting and hoping our lawns turn back to green before too long, so we can spend all day sitting on a lawn chair on it.