Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic States of Mind

So, I had to jump on here about this (before you yell at me, just know that it's the weekend and I can't do my homework yet because I needed to re-download the programs so HA! :p )

Anyways. So I was catching up on all my feeds and such, and I came across all these fact cards from You-know-you're-from-California-when.tumblr.com (lousy website, but tons of funny stuff). Some of it's more true than others but in general, I was still surprised at how many of the "stereotypes" hold true. For example:

- 70 mph is considered slow on the freeway. (Because it is. If I have to touch my brakes because some idiot thinks the speed limit is actually 65, Also, I'm working on my road rage. )

- You say "hella/hecka" (which I realize is a strictly Norcal/Bay Area thing, but very true)

- You say "P.E." instead of "Gym" (which I never realized was true until now)

- You turn right on red

- In-N-Out

Everyday things that I don't even consider as strange but apparently are very specific. SO, this got me thinking about the rest of the country/world. Are there any specific traits/behaviors that might stand out about where you live? What are you known for? Also would be a good resource for writing to know the areas. Metropolis is like the equivalent of NYC (in my mind), so what would be the ideas for there?

Just a thought.

These also apply in Washington State.

The problem with WA state is that it's half red state and half blue state, depending on which side of the mountains you live on, so all the eco-friendly things I, as a former west stater, would've put before I moved east of the mountains don't really apply over here, so I'll allow the Oregonians to have them. Although, it could explain all the crazies in our state...

-- If espresso bars popped up in your McD's before Friends went on the air, then you live in WA State. (McD's = McDonald's, or as my children call it: Mickel-Donald's) i.e. 20 years ago.

-- If you have to remind people that the national capital isn't actually "Washington" but "The District of Columbia", then you're from WA. (Also, interesting factoid which I recall from 4th grade social studies, Washington State was originally going to be called "Columbia" after the Columbia river which borders WA and Oregon, but they changed it to Washington as so not to be confused with the nation's capital "District of Columbia".)

--If it isn't surprising that Vampires have come to hide out in your state, then you live in WA. (Forks, WA -- home of Twilight)

-- If you're still in shock that Seattle won the Superbowl, you than more likely to live in WA State /We're not known for winning sports teams./

-- If Rain is more a state of life than a season or weather, then you live in WESTERN WA.

-- If you suffer from sunlight deprivation syndrome EVERY winter, you hail from WA (no pun intended).

Right now Winter and Summer have started fighting. We wake to frost and have 70' by mid-afternoon. Basically, you dress in layers in the morning and spend all day stripping.

-- If they don't hand out plastic bags in stores, but have bag dispensers in the park, then you live in WESTERN WA State :rolleyes: /Plastic bags illegal West of the mountains, but they still want you to pick up your doggie's do-do./

I'm sure we could come up with ideas for Metropolis all on our own, but we should start a separate link... Now, let's see, would that be Superman Related or LnC Related? I decided on Superman Related for my You Know You Live in Metropolis, when... Thread.

Humm. .. you know, being Mexican I can tell you about looots and lots of stereotypes from my country and I can't stop laughing because many of them are true!!... (like: )
Anyway I really don't know if any of them can be used to apply at Metropolis, but I think this exercise could be fun. .. let's see...

1. You know your are Mexican if you have ever hurt yourself and your mom rubbed the area while chanting, "Sana, Sana, Colita de rana....."
2. Others tell you to stop screaming when you are really just talking (mainly if you are from the northern states)
3. You know you are Mexican if you eat everything with tortilla, salsa or Chile ..
4. or if you try to fix everything at home with tape or a wire
5. You know you are in México when you go shopping and the seller calls you "güerita" (blondy) even if your hair is middle-night black
6. The turning right on red light also applies in Mexico. ...

And the list keeps going. .

Hmmm...interesting thread! We've been in the state of North Dakota for about a year and a half, but definitely have noticed some things.

And here we go:

In North Dakota....

1. We turn right on red also
2. 75 mph is the speed limit on the interstate--which I follow (but, to which my husband would argue, I never really even approach...ok, ok, I regress--I'm a pretty slow driver ). So yeah, everyone (and I mean everyone) is pretty much flying past me, seeming to take 75 as just a suggestion.
3. A very popular phrase is 'You betcha!' (Solution=light-blocking shades, but only in kiddo rooms )
10. There are fields, and fields (and, again, more fields ) of crops--corn, beans, sugar beats, wheat, hay...and my absolute favorite: Sunflowers. Seriously, I got goosebumps the first time I saw a field of sunflowers. All standing so tall, their 'faces' looking up towards the sun...beautiful!

Laura

I can think of a few for Delaware. You know you're living in Delaware if...

1) People living in other states don't know whether you are in the North or the South. Delaware is considered a southern state by northerners and a northern state by southerners. We're actually a little of both. Geographically, we're a southern state: If the horizontal portion of the Mason-Dixon were extended eastward, it would result in a very small part of Delaware being on its northern side and a large majority of the state would be on its southern side. Culturally, the state is divided. The part north of "the canal" (i.e., the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal) feels like a northern state, while the part south of it aligns more with southern states.

2) You pronounce "Newark" with the emphasis on the second syllable. (Residents of Newark, Delaware do not like being mistaken as living in New Jersey.)

3) You never have even a ballpark estimate of how much snow you'll get in any given winter. One winter might have a few flurries but no accumulation. The next winter might have three or four feet of accumulated snow.

4) You move to the area and are curious to find out what accent natives of the state have, only to learn that adult natives of the state seem to be in the minority. It's probably different downstate -- that is, south of the canal. Where I live in upstate Delaware, though, most of us -- myself included -- are transplants.

5) You call the metal identification rectangles you put on the back (but not the front) of your car, "tags." (Where I grew up in Upstate New York, those things were called, "license plates," or simply "plates," and they were required on both the back and the front of the car.)

6) And you might be an L&C fan living in Delaware if you delight every time you hear the name of your southernmost county: Kent County.

If I think of any other Delaware-related ideas, I'll post them later. I'm guessing I might be the only representative of my adopted state on the list.

Joy,
Lynn

I'm from California, but it's a very large and diverse state. The region I live in is known as the Inland Empire (aka IE).

You know you're from the IE when:

- 50% humidity is sheer misery.
- You run to the window and stare in shock when it rains.
- It's a pleasant summer day when the temperature only gets to 100 degrees.
- 20 MPH on the freeway during rush hour is fast.
- Everything is an hour away (except at rush hour, when it's 2 or 3).
- You have four seasons: rain, spring, heat, and on fire.
- You stare at a tornado funnel because you don't know what it is.
- Old timers can tell you about every single time it's snowed, down to the day and hour, because it's that rare.
- You water your garden in January.
- When you find a chicken in your yard, you go door to door to try to figure out which neighbor it belongs to.
- You pick ripe tomatoes in May (if not sooner).
- You wear shorts when it's 20 degrees out because it's sunny -- then complain about the cold.
- You regard a wet road as a reason to drive faster.

You know you live in southern California when you stare at a taxi like it was an exotic creature. (Taxis are rare in SoCal.)

In southeastern Michigan we know that:

-The state bird is the mosquito.
-The state tree is an orange construction barrel.
-It takes less than 15 minutes to go "to the beach" (from anywhere in the state).
-Most of your relatives (and you) work in the car industry.
-You think the orange "End Road Work" signs would make a decent campaign slogan.
-Major industries shut down on November 15th (i.e opening day for deer season).
-You listen to almost as many Canadian stations as U.S.
-The middle of a lake becomes the 10th largest city two weeks of the year. (Tip-Up Town ice fishing festival)
-You've literally seen rain, sun, fog and snow all within 5 minutes at least once.
-Trolls, Fudgies and Yoopers are people, too. (Trolls=residents living below the Mackinaw bridge, Fudgie=fudge buying tourist, Yooper=upper peninsula resident)
-Nothing that happens in Detroit is surprising anymore.

You know you live in Louisiana when:

- The main clothing store in town is Jordan and Booth but the first name is pronounced "Jerdin" with a hard emphasis on the first syllable

- A creek isn't a creek, it's a bayou (pronounced "buy-you")

- The police chew you out at traffic stops for coming across the river/bayou/bridge from the adjoining town to drive weird in "their" town

- French accents which would drive a Parisian crazy are the norm

- The state's most famous comedian (Justin Wilson) was funny mostly because of his Cajun accent (and he really was a funny guy)

- The state's most famous city is below sea level

- The state's most famous party is designed to get all your sinning out into the open so you have something you can really repent about

- A beloved former governor (Edwin Edwards) spent significant time in federal prison for taking a bribe - which he claimed wasn't illegal because he didn't do what he was bribed to do

- You have four seasons: warm and sticky, hot and sticky, not quite so hot and sticky, and hoe the garden

- Any accumulation of snow is a de facto local holiday

I may come up with more later. I spent 14 years in the Bayou State and don't go back except to visit family.

I was kind of hoping for a "You know you live in Metropolis when..." thread, especially because where I live is pretty boring.

Like, you know you live in Metropolis when you hear a sonic boom, but there isn't a plane in sight.

Or, you know you live in Metropolis when the whole city gets put on lockdown for an epic superhero battle at least three times a month but people continue to live there.

Is there already a thread like that somewhere else on the board?

TEEEEEEJ

Shimauma, ask and you shall receive. The thread you're looking for is here .

Joy,
Lynn

I saw a good one on Facebook this morning:

You know you live in California when you don't get under the table for any earthquake under a 5.5.

My sister posted this link on Facebook:

25 Things You Need to Know About California Before You Move There

Well, I've got to say it's all true.

Artie

I loved the part about the festivals -- my town has one for Thomas the Train. I was volunteered to work a barbecue booth there one year, and soon realized that there were more adults there than kids. There's also a Potato Festival, even though potatoes haven't been grown here commercially in decades, a Rods and Rails festival (this town has the largest working railway museum west of the Mississippi, or so I'm told), and something called Fred T. Perris Day, honoring the man for whom the town is named (he helped bring the railroad here in the 1880s, though he never actually lived here; prior to that, the town was called Pinacate, which is Spanish for stinkbug, so I guess Perris is an improvement).

Small world! When I first moved to the IE, I lived in Perris. Do you remember the billboards on the 215: "$500 moves you in!"? I bought one of those houses. Actually, after closing, they paid me $75! I'm up near the national cemetery off Van Buren now. And I don't roll out of bed unless an earthquake is at least a 6.0. One day at work, we had a small earthquake...maybe a 3. I kept teaching. My husband, who was working as the vice principal for the day, had to kick me and my class out to the fields to complete the emergency procedures. He's never let me live it down. I maintain my lesson was more important.

You know you're in Missouri when:

You move between the City and the country and hear two different versions of the name (Misoory or Missourah.)

I probably could come up with more but I could think of them off the top of my head.

Haha, I think it's awesome that the thread goes from California (my home state) to Missouri (where most of my family is from). My family has been in town for my grandparent's 50th anniversary-- you absorb that accent so fast (we're the folks who pronounce it Missourah).

That article is awesome though, Annie. Very true. Everything. I'd always be upset when our family drove across country and we could never find good Mexican food-- anywhere. I've never really thought about the casual friday thing-- I kind of always thought it was a joke. Like, did people go to work in their pajamas or something? I forget we pretty much live in flip flops. The "dude" thing I never knew was weird until my very same Missouri family started laughing at me for saying it all the time. :P

Also, another thing I'm not sure was mentioned but I didn't see in the article is that everything is measured in time, not distance. My cousin (second cousin?) wanted to go to Yosemite in a day, we told him it'd take about three hours from where we were. He thought he could just drive faster and get there quicker. HA!

I do that, too, so maybe it's a west coast thing. It's like knowing how to get somewhere by landmarks that are no longer there because you don't recall the street names. (That's true everywhere, though. My husband once told me that in San Jose, Costa Rica, some streets don't have names -- which I know can't be true, just from a mail POV -- but I think he means street signs. Anyway, everyone knows where XYZ used to be. So, drive to where this used to be, past where that happened, and if you get to the building that used to be blue, you've gone too far. ) As I tell people, my mother lives 8 hours away when driving with kids, 6 without. (This same formula works with dogs, apparently, too.)

EDIT: When my kids asked me how far away it was to my sister's, I told them that if we drove straight there on I-5 we *could* do it in two days, but we were taking the scenic route (which ended up being via the redwoods on the coast - definitely recommended), so it would take closer to four. We arrived on the 5th day. The reason for the journey was the journey not the destination (no offense to my sister, BTW). I wanted them to know what it felt like to be bored in a car for hours on end with no electronic entertainment. They handled it better than I expected. Apparently, kids only crave entertainment when they have access to it (i.e. since we've arrived home and they're bored out of their skulls with the TV *RIGHT THERE* sitting in the living room within their reach!)

The time/driving thing is (unfortunately) true in Michigan, too. I lived 15 miles from work and it took 45 minutes to make it there. I moved 85 miles from work and doubled my drive time. Lakes, traffic lights and road construction.

California does have a bit of everything. We were visiting my mother in Upland and coming back from Disneyland when my wife got hungry for Italian food. I'd never seen an Italian place that wasn't primarily pizza there. We happened to see a small place in Diamond Bar that was flat out awesome--D'Antonios. Food, atmosphere and service so good it was spooky. I'm talking we left a 50% tip. We went back a couple of years later but it wasn't the same.