You Know You're From...

... Michigan When...

You define summer as three months of bad sledding. You can identify an Ohio accent. You know how to play (and pronounce) Euchre. The Big Mac is something that you drive across. You believe that "down south" means Toledo. You drive 75 on the highway and you pass on the right. Your Little League baseball game was snowed out. You know how to pronounce "Mackinac". The word "thumb" has a geographical rather than an anatomical significance. You have experienced frostbite and sunburn in the same week. You know that Kalamazoo not only exists, but that it isn't far from Hell. At least one person in your family disowns you for the week of the Michigan/Michigan State football game. Traveling coast to coast means driving from Port Huron to Muskegon. Half the change in your pocket is Canadian, eh. You show people where you grew up by pointing to a spot on your left hand. You know what a "Yooper" is. Your car rusts out before you need the brakes done Half the people you know say they are from Detroit... yet you don't personally know anyone who actually lives in Detroit "Up North" means north of Clare. Snow tires come standard on all your cars. At least 25% of your relatives work for the auto industry. Octopus and hockey go together as naturally as hot dogs and baseball. You know more about chill factors and lake effect than you'd EVER like to know! You know when it has rained because of the smell of worms. You never watch the Weather Channel - you can just assume they're wrong. The snowmen you make in your front yard actually freeze. Solid. The snow freezes so hard that you can actually walk across it and not break it or leave any marks. Your major school field trip includes camping and cross-country skiing. Half your friends have a perfect sledding hill right in their own backyard. ... Chicago When... You know what Kennedy, Dan Ryan, Eisenhower, Edens, and Bishop Ford, have in common and curse one of them daily. You know what "the Hillside strangler is." You can name three or four extra taxes nobody else pays. You know the difference between Richard J Daley and Richard M Daley. You say Chicawgo and not Chicaago. You think going to a Bears game in single digit temperatures with a wind off the lake (and freezing rain) is fun. You expect corruption in local politics. You've been caught speeding in Wisconsin because you had Illinois plates. You guard your shoveled parking space with an old chair and unusable broom. You know why they call it "the Windy City." You know dead people who voted. You've never ever considered the idea of hiring non-union laborers. You've never been to Springfield. You know a good gyros joint. You know what Giordanos, Lou Malnati's, and Gino's have in common. You know exactly how many cars are "legally" allowed to turn left after the light turns red. You don't know which ethnic "fest" to choose on any given Summer weekend. Your idea of relaxing and getting away from it all is Ravinia (with 10,000 others who have the same idea). You can recite many of "The Blues Brothers" lines and know where they filmed certain scenes. You consider paying someone to watch your car at a sporting event as just another "city tax." The "Living Room" is called the "front room" You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You become irate at people who do You measure distance in minutes (especially "from the city"). And you swear everything is pretty much 15 minutes away You refer to anything South of I-80 as "Southern Illinois" You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake" You refer to Chicago as "The City" You think 35 degrees is great weather to wash your car! You know what goes on a Chicago Style Hot Dog You know what Chicago Style Pizza REALLY is You understand what "lake-effect" means You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra, and know which station they end up at. You have ridden the "L" You can distinguish between the following area codes: 847,630,773,708, 312, & 815 You respond to the question "Where are you from" with a side" example:"WEST SIDE", "SOUTH SIDE" or "NORTHSIDE." You know what the phone number is to Empire Carpet! It's January and you see someone's kitchen chair in the street, and you know that if you're a responsible citizen and bring it back to the sidewalk you will be shot on sight You live two miles from work and it takes you two hours to drive there You don't flinch when you pay the fifth toll of your 45-minute car ride on the highway When you read a big story in the paper about mob ties in the city government, your first reaction is "So, tell me something I don't know." You know Lincoln Towing is Satan incarnate. You've paid $105 for towing, $30 for more than one "street cleaning" ticket, $58 for a city vehicle sticker, and $70 for a license plate sticker -- and chalk it all up to "neighborhood taxes." You've taken the Red Line past the point where all white people get off and all black people get on -- or vice versa. You've cursed at a cyclist, pedestrian, or in-line skater on the lakefront path. You know the significance of State and Madison. Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here Blogthings