Cannot say I blame you! Illinois is the pits. How did I end up here??????
LOLOL! There are worse places to be from. Think about it, you are looking for a job, you finally get the 2nd interview and you are asked about willing to relocate outside Massachusetts - and you are caught so off guard your coffee sprayed out of your mouth, coats the interviewer's glasses with fake powdered cream.
It could be so much worse.
I love Illinois. My ancestors arrived in Randolph County from South Carolina in the 1820's, and I've lived here my entire life. I expect I'll be buried in the prairie soil. The problem with Illinois is that the government long ago was taken over by gangsters, thieves, sleezeballs and bums-- and the people have let it happen; either by ignorance, or by sitting or their duffs and doing nothing, or by indifference, or by playing along because in some way it benefits them (vote for the alderman, get a new garbage can.) A damned shame.