Once, during a conversation with friends, I referred to the region around the Persian Gulf as mid-west. Someone corrected me: “The middle east, you mean.” I didn’t argue that the Gulf is west or that, from our perspective, the middle east would be Indonesia or the Philippines. My friends may acknowledge that this is true, but it is also true that we are no longer guided by our own compass. When they say “east coast” or “west coast”, I know they’re talking about the USA altho