Not a single line about leaf-peepers, seriously?
This meme is all over my friendslist:
1. Go to google and type "you know you're from [your state/city] when..."
2. Repost to your journal.
3. Bold the ones that apply.
It's a silly one, like most memes, but I also find it genuinely interesting to see what people's regional assumptions are. I've got three different options that I could use here, and maybe if I'm bored sometime I'll go back and try it for Cincinnati. But I opted for Vermont, instead. I cobbled together a couple of lists I found, because what every make-a-list meme needs is to be longer, right?
Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on Route 7. (Definitely not true for Boston, but once I cross state lines I automatically recalibrate.)
Vacation means going to Burlington for the weekend. (Nonsense; vacation means going to your camp on the nearest lake.)
You measure distance in hours.
You know several people who have hit moose more than once. (Seen, sure; hit, no. You wanna avoid that one if you POSSIBLY CAN.)
You often switch from heat to A/C in the same day. (...I hardly know any Vermonters who have air conditioning.)
You use a down comforter in the summer. (Not regularly, but I have.)
Your grandparents drive at 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching. (My grandparents are not Vermonters. Though my grandfather who was originally from upstate New York might've.)
You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. (No, but I know people who do.)
You think of the major food groups as deer meat, beer, fish, and berries.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them. (Don't have a girlfriend, but I know how, so I would be said hypothetical girlfriend if I were dating someone. I was going to call this heteronormative, but I will deliberately choose instead to believe that this is aimed at the Vermont lesbian population also.)
There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the Danby store at any given time!
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel pajamas.
You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction. (The formulations I usually hear are Summer, Fall, Winter, Mud Season, or Tourists, Tourists, More Tourists, Mud. But.)
It takes you 3 hours to go to the store for one item even when you're in a rush because you have to stop and talk to everyone in town. (This is truer if I'm with my extroverted father.)
You own one of the following or have a close friend that does: truck, snow mobile aka "sled" or "ski doo", 4 wheeler, chainsaw. (Not me, but friends and neighbors, sure. I suspect I know someone who owns all four.)
Going to Burlington or Williston for a movie is considered a "night on the town".
Going to see the local high school basketball team is a highlight of a winter evening.
You know how to make maple syrup (in your kitchen...not the fancy sugar houses the "flatlanders" come to see) (I mean, I never have. But the principle's pretty straightforward.)
You go to the town clerk to get your tax bill, and they don't have to ask you for ID.
You or at least one family member volunteers for the local fire department or rescue squad. (My brother. Except he's moving cross-country next year, but whatever.)
You don't complain about cell phone coverage, you know where to get a signal. (Or are resigned to wandering the house until you find the corner that sporadically gets one, whatever.)
Opening day of deer season is a holiday. (Not for me, but for half of school, you better believe it.)
You took Hunters Safety Course when you were a kid.
Parties in high school were in farmer X's field with a HUGE bonfire... and the state police left you alone about it... (I was an outsider from the party crowd. But hayfield keggers were definitely what said crowd did. No idea how much the police looked the other way, though.)
You know at least one garage that will inspect and sticker a "questionable" car. (Probably, but never tried it or anything.)
You go to Thunder Road and enjoy it.
While you may disagree with our President, you don't feel the need to protest. (If this were a more broadly applicable comment on Vermont's political live-and-let-live politeness, then yes. But I believe in protest on the right issues and in the right ways.)
You take the day off from work to go to Town Meeting. Unless you work for the state, then you already have it off. (Would at least strongly consider it, but I haven't had to take it off.)
You know the meaning of Bennington Battle Day.
You headed for Montreal and Canada when you turned 18.
You know where to "obtain" a Christmas tree. (No, we buy ours from the Christmas tree farm down the road whose owners we're friends with, of course.)
You only own three spices - salt, pepper, and ketchup.
You design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit. (Or at least to incorporate heavy sweater possibilities. I had to blink and remind myself that this isn't true everywhere.)
You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.
You have ten favorite recipes for venison.
The hardware store on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at Christmas. (My town doesn't have a toy store, as such. But several hardware stores!)
You live in a house that has no front steps, yet the door is one yard above the ground. (This is only true of the old front door, which is now at the back. But.)
You think everyone from the city has an accent. (Everybody has an accent! And I don't actually have a Vermont one. So this answer is cheating, but whatever.)
The local paper covers national and international headlines on 1/4 page, but requires six pages for sports.
At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.
The most effective mosquito repellent is a shotgun.
Your snowblower gets stuck on the roof.
You head south to go to your cottage. (Please, if it's in Vermont it's a camp! Also, no, ours is a bit to the northwest.)
You frequently clean grease off your barbecue so the bears won't prowl on your deck.
You know which leaves make good toilet paper. (...What. I did a lot more camping as a kid.)
The mayor greets you on the street by your first name.
The major parish fundraiser isn't bingo - it's sausage making. (No, it's pancake breakfasts. Or a fair on the town green. I don't actually know what earns them more money.)
You find -20?F a little chilly.
The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freeze. (...I don't actually use it as such. But I COULD. Now, the porch, yes.)
You attended a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry and your snowmobile boots. (A bit of hyperbole, but only a bit.)
You can play road hockey on skates.
Shoveling the driveway constitutes a great upper body workout.
Your town buys a zamboni before a bus.
1. Go to google and type "you know you're from [your state/city] when..."
2. Repost to your journal.
3. Bold the ones that apply.
It's a silly one, like most memes, but I also find it genuinely interesting to see what people's regional assumptions are. I've got three different options that I could use here, and maybe if I'm bored sometime I'll go back and try it for Cincinnati. But I opted for Vermont, instead. I cobbled together a couple of lists I found, because what every make-a-list meme needs is to be longer, right?
Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on Route 7. (Definitely not true for Boston, but once I cross state lines I automatically recalibrate.)
Vacation means going to Burlington for the weekend. (Nonsense; vacation means going to your camp on the nearest lake.)
You measure distance in hours.
You know several people who have hit moose more than once. (Seen, sure; hit, no. You wanna avoid that one if you POSSIBLY CAN.)
You often switch from heat to A/C in the same day. (...I hardly know any Vermonters who have air conditioning.)
You use a down comforter in the summer. (Not regularly, but I have.)
Your grandparents drive at 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching. (My grandparents are not Vermonters. Though my grandfather who was originally from upstate New York might've.)
You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked. (No, but I know people who do.)
You think of the major food groups as deer meat, beer, fish, and berries.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them. (Don't have a girlfriend, but I know how, so I would be said hypothetical girlfriend if I were dating someone. I was going to call this heteronormative, but I will deliberately choose instead to believe that this is aimed at the Vermont lesbian population also.)
There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at the Danby store at any given time!
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel pajamas.
You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction. (The formulations I usually hear are Summer, Fall, Winter, Mud Season, or Tourists, Tourists, More Tourists, Mud. But.)
It takes you 3 hours to go to the store for one item even when you're in a rush because you have to stop and talk to everyone in town. (This is truer if I'm with my extroverted father.)
You own one of the following or have a close friend that does: truck, snow mobile aka "sled" or "ski doo", 4 wheeler, chainsaw. (Not me, but friends and neighbors, sure. I suspect I know someone who owns all four.)
Going to Burlington or Williston for a movie is considered a "night on the town".
Going to see the local high school basketball team is a highlight of a winter evening.
You know how to make maple syrup (in your kitchen...not the fancy sugar houses the "flatlanders" come to see) (I mean, I never have. But the principle's pretty straightforward.)
You go to the town clerk to get your tax bill, and they don't have to ask you for ID.
You or at least one family member volunteers for the local fire department or rescue squad. (My brother. Except he's moving cross-country next year, but whatever.)
You don't complain about cell phone coverage, you know where to get a signal. (Or are resigned to wandering the house until you find the corner that sporadically gets one, whatever.)
Opening day of deer season is a holiday. (Not for me, but for half of school, you better believe it.)
You took Hunters Safety Course when you were a kid.
Parties in high school were in farmer X's field with a HUGE bonfire... and the state police left you alone about it... (I was an outsider from the party crowd. But hayfield keggers were definitely what said crowd did. No idea how much the police looked the other way, though.)
You know at least one garage that will inspect and sticker a "questionable" car. (Probably, but never tried it or anything.)
You go to Thunder Road and enjoy it.
While you may disagree with our President, you don't feel the need to protest. (If this were a more broadly applicable comment on Vermont's political live-and-let-live politeness, then yes. But I believe in protest on the right issues and in the right ways.)
You take the day off from work to go to Town Meeting. Unless you work for the state, then you already have it off. (Would at least strongly consider it, but I haven't had to take it off.)
You know the meaning of Bennington Battle Day.
You headed for Montreal and Canada when you turned 18.
You know where to "obtain" a Christmas tree. (No, we buy ours from the Christmas tree farm down the road whose owners we're friends with, of course.)
You only own three spices - salt, pepper, and ketchup.
You design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit. (Or at least to incorporate heavy sweater possibilities. I had to blink and remind myself that this isn't true everywhere.)
You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.
You have ten favorite recipes for venison.
The hardware store on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at Christmas. (My town doesn't have a toy store, as such. But several hardware stores!)
You live in a house that has no front steps, yet the door is one yard above the ground. (This is only true of the old front door, which is now at the back. But.)
You think everyone from the city has an accent. (Everybody has an accent! And I don't actually have a Vermont one. So this answer is cheating, but whatever.)
The local paper covers national and international headlines on 1/4 page, but requires six pages for sports.
At least twice a year, the kitchen doubles as a meat processing plant.
The most effective mosquito repellent is a shotgun.
Your snowblower gets stuck on the roof.
You head south to go to your cottage. (Please, if it's in Vermont it's a camp! Also, no, ours is a bit to the northwest.)
You frequently clean grease off your barbecue so the bears won't prowl on your deck.
You know which leaves make good toilet paper. (...What. I did a lot more camping as a kid.)
The mayor greets you on the street by your first name.
The major parish fundraiser isn't bingo - it's sausage making. (No, it's pancake breakfasts. Or a fair on the town green. I don't actually know what earns them more money.)
You find -20?F a little chilly.
The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freeze. (...I don't actually use it as such. But I COULD. Now, the porch, yes.)
You attended a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry and your snowmobile boots. (A bit of hyperbole, but only a bit.)
You can play road hockey on skates.
Shoveling the driveway constitutes a great upper body workout.
Your town buys a zamboni before a bus.