1. The "living room" is called
the "front room". 2. You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You
become irate at people who do. 3. You measure distance in minutes (especially
"from the city"). And you swear everything is pretty much 1/2 hour away. 4.
You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines." 5. You go to visit
friends or family down south and laugh when they complain about the traffic.
You know this was not the Greyhound bus station
6. You
understand that no person from Chicago can be a Cub fan AND a White Sox
fan. 7. It's "Kitty corner" not "Katty corner". 8. You know the difference
between The Loop and Downtown 9. You eat your pizza in squares, not
triangles, and you never refer to it as "pie" 10. You own celery salt 11.
You understand that the primary is the official local election. 12. You have
drunk green beer on St. Paddy's Day 13. Stores don't have sacks, they have
bags. 14. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example:
"Where's my coat at?" or "Can I go with?" 15. Your idea of a great tenderloin
is when the meat is twice as big as the bun, "everything" is on it and a slice
of dill pickle is on the side.
You know "The Bobs" was not plural for
Bob
16. You carry jumper cables in your car. 17. You drink
"pop." 18. You understand that I-290, I-90, I-94, and I-294 are all different
roads. 19. You know the names of the interstates: Stevenson,
Kennedy,Eisenhower,Dan Ryan, and the Edens 20. But you call the interstates
"expressways." 21. You refer to anything South of I-80 as "Southern or
Central Illinois." 22. You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake." 23. You
refer to Chicago as "The City" 24. "The Super Bowl" refers to one specific
game in January 1986. 25. You have two favorite football teams: The Bears,
and anyone who beats the Packers. 26. You buy "The Trib" and not the
Tribune. 27. You know that despite being on the lake, there is no such place
as the Waterfront. 28. You think 45 degrees is great weather to wash your
car. 29. You picnic or ride your bike in the "forest preserve" 30. You
cried when Bozo was canceled on WGN.
You know this was "The Silver Flash", not the
"EL"
31.You know what goes on a Chicago style hot dog. 32.You know
what Chicago Style Pizza REALLY is. 33. You know why they call Chicago "The
Windy City." 34. You understand what "lake-effect" means 35. You know the
difference between Amtrak and Metra, and know which station they end up
at. 37. You have ridden the "L." 38. You think your next-door neighbor is
a cousin to Tony Soprano. 39. You can distinguish between the following area
codes: 847,630,773,708, 312, & 815. 40. You have at some time in your
life, used your furniture or a friend's body to guard your parking spot in
winter 41. You respond to the question "Where are you from" with a "side."
Example: "West Side," "South Side" or "North Side." 42. You know the phone
number to Empire Carpet! 43. You know what a garache-key is!