"But there's a light on in Chicago and I know I should be home" ~ Fall Out Boy
All right, I'm gonna bold the ones that are true and probably make comments...
You Know You're From Chicago When...
You say "Wanna go with?" when you mean "Do you want to come with me?" (this is true, it seems like Chicago people add unnecessary prepositions ALL the time)
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 can use two or three Daleyisms in context.
You can imitate the Mayor's whine.
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.
Da is a proper definite article. (DA bears!)
You expect corruption in local politics. (Um, do you have any idea what went on in Western Springs with the whole Timber Trails thing? enough said...)
You go to the Dells in the summer to get away from the other 20 thousand that followed you. (haha, you should hear what people from Wisconsin say about people from Illinois)
You've been caught speeding in Wisconsin because you had Illinois plates. (my dad has anyways)
You guard your shoveled parking space with an old chair and unusable broom.(this also sounds like something my dad would do)
You know why they call it "the Windy City." (i actually have no idea. it has nothing to do with actual wind, according to my mother)
You know dead people who voted.
You understand the Democratic machine and don't fight against it.
You've never ever considered the idea of hiring non-union laborers.
You've never been to Springfield.
You know a good gyros joint. (aaron does lol)
You know what Giordanos, Lou Malnati's, and Gino's have in common.
You know when the last time the Cubs won a pennant.
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). (my parents' idea anyways)
You can recite many of "The Blues Brothers" lines and know where they filmed certain scenes. (not the lines, but some of the scenes lol)
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" (in some other people's houses, not mine though, but yes, it is. we SHOULD call ours the front room because it is the least lived-in room of the house)
You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You become irate at people who do (haha, according to my cousin from texas, it would be pronounced like that if it had an E at the end. dont question the texas logic lol)
You measure distance in minutes (especially "from the city"). And you swear everything is pretty much 15 minutes away (OMG, this one is so true! i hate it when people give me directions in miles because i have no idea how to judge how far a mile actually is. until i had friends from wisconsin, it never occurred to me that the rest of the world doesnt do this.)
You refer to anything South of I-80 as "Southern Illinois" (haha, yes, and southern illinois is completely different, or so i'm told. it might as well be the south)
You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake"
You refer to Chicago as "The City" (well, duh)
"The Super Bowl" refers to one specific game in a series of 35 played in January of 1986
You have two favorite football teams: The Bears, and anyone who beats the Packers!
You buy "The Trib"
You think 35 degrees is great weather to wash your car! (hmm, im pretty sure my dad tried to make me wash my car on a day like that, because hey, that is considered good weather in winter)
You know what goes on a Chicago Style Hot Dog (no because I probably wouldn't eat it)
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! (haha, my brother used to, and he would recite it daily)
You wear gym shoes, not sneakers. (well, i actually do wear "sneakers" because they are chuck taylors, but otherwise, they ARE gym shoes)
Your favorite melody to hum is "Bang,Bang,Bang-Skeet,Skeet,Skeet!!!!"
You faithfully attended Lil Louis parties at The Bismarck.
You GOT to have spaghetti at your barbecue.
You are STILL a Bulls fan........
You think kicking it outside of White Castles parking lot, (79th and Stony Island) is the "Freak Nik"
You go to Harold`s and order 4 pc wing, mild sauce, salt and pepper.
You have a picture of Harold Washington in your kitchen, living room, family room or basement.
You have ever waited in line at Home of the Hoagy on 111th for 30-45 minutes for a steak samich wit cheese
You have ever been to the Tiki Room lounge in Hyde Park
You have Y made a special trip downtown because you had a craving for Garrett's caramel and cheese popcorn.
What!!! We don`t get a Fifty? Oh yeah....
You drink at bars called "Bud on Tap" or "Milwaukee's Best" -- no names, just beer signs out front.
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 (it blows my mind how few tolls there are when we're drving out of state)
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 pluralize grocery stores and retail chains: "I'm going to Jewels"; "I bought it at Targets"; "I couldn't find parking at Wal-Marts"
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. (on Friday, in fact)
You know the significance of State and Madison.
You wonder if the fries will taste the same at Sammy Sosa's Restaurant.
You don't miss Planet Hollywood.
You're not ashamed of wearing a big fur Russian hat, or a headsock with one hole in it, in public from November through March. (its either look like an eskimo or freeze for months. you choose)
Wow, this almost makes me appreciate where I am from. I still wholeheartedly want to get away from Chicago and the Midwest, but this place has affected me, and I guess it will always be a part of me. Sometimes I almost feel like I sort of belong here. I am a hardcore democrat after all. But the weather does not agree with me, and I go through serious seasonal depression because of it every November. It's home for now, but it isn't where I belong. *sigh* there is something about Chicago that I can't figure out, but I love it. Try walking along the streets when the wind is cold enough to cut through you and where all the buildings stretch infinitely high and blend into the night sky. Then you'll get it.