What's it like where you live?

I know these are old but I had wanted bring them back up again. Another blogger published a great post about being proud of where you're from. Blogthings' "You know You're From [here] When..." doesn't have a great list when it comes to Michigan. I live in an area of Michigan that blends in with Indiana and Chicago so I thought I would pick and choose points that I thought reflected my area from each of those three lists. The following, I've experienced or understand with amusement. If you don't have any idea what some of these things mean, don't feel bad. You're probably not from this area! You can always ask if you wanna know though.

You Know You’re From Michigan When…

You define summer as three months of bad sledding.

You can identify an Ohio accent.

Owning a Japanese car is a hanging offense in your hometown.

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 bake with soda and drink pop.

You drive 75 on the highway and you pass on the right.

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 expect Vernor's when you order ginger ale.

You know that Kalamazoo not only exists, but that it isn't far from Hell.

Your favorite holidays are Christmas, Thanksgiving, the opening of deer season and Devil's Night.

At least one person in your family disowns you for the week of the Michigan/Michigan State football game.

You know what a millage is.

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 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.

You know what a pastie is.

You occasionally cheer "Go Lions- and take the Tigers with you."

Snow tires come standard on all your cars.

At least 25% of your relatives work for the auto industry.

You don't understand what the big deal about Chicago is. (I understand this, just don’t agree with it.)

You know more about chill factors and lake effect than you'd EVER like to know!

Your snowblower has more miles on it than your car.

Shoveling the driveway constitutes a great upper body workout.

When giving directions, you refer to "A Michigan Left."

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.

All your shoes are called "tennis shoes", even though no one here plays tennis anyway.

Your major school field trips include camping and cross-country skiing.

Half your friends have a perfect sledding hill right in their own backyard.

You Know You’re From Indiana When…

You drive for three hours and the scenery outside doesn't change.

There's three feet of snow on the ground and school is still in session.

While driving all you see is corn.

You start saying to yourself "More than corn in Indiana my butt."

Walking through Wal-Mart with two carts full of kids is normal.

The hip hang-out place is McDonald's. Wal-mart

There really is more than corn in Indiana. There’s soybeans, too.

A restaurant has an invisible wall in the non-smoking section and you believe it works.

You think you don't have to use a turn signal on your car because you don't use it on your tractor.

You build your dream house on a cornfield, and you considered it posh.

You warsh your clothes and you think George Warshington was the first president. (This irritates me to no end.)

You're proud to be called a Hoosier, even if you don't know what one is.

You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Terre Haute"

Detassling was your first job. Bailing hay, your second.

You say things like "catty-wumpus" and "kitty-corner".

You live in a city ... and there's a cornfield in your backyard. (Well, there's a cornfield at least.)

You can see at least 2 basketball hoops from your yard. (Three if you really want to know.)

"Getting caught by a train" is a legitimate excuse for being late to school.

People at your high school chewed tobacco.

Everyone knows who the town cop is, where he lives, and whether he is at home or on duty. (Umm, that would be Dale)

To you, a raccoon is simply a "coon".

The vehicle of choice in your area is not a car, but a pickup.

To you, a tenderloin is not an expensive cut of beef, but a big, salty, breaded piece of pork served on a bun with pickles.

You know what chip-and-seal is, and your high school was located on just such a road.

You go the county fair every night of its week-long duration.

There's actually a college near you named "Ball State."

The last "g" is silent in any word ending in "ing."

You think the state Bird is Larry.

You Know You’re From Chicago When…

You say "Wanna go with?" when you mean "Do you want to come with me?"

You know what Kennedy, Dan Ryan, Eisenhower, Edens, and Bishop Ford, have in common and curse one of them daily.

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.

Da is a proper definite article.

You expect corruption in local politics.

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 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 exactly how many cars are "legally" allowed to turn left after the light turns red.

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"). (Grandma: 45 minutes. Work: 35-40 minutes. Wal-mart: 18-20 minutes. Tasty Chen's: 9 minutes. 7 minutes 20 seconds if I don't hit the red lights.)

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 buy "The Trib"

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 respond to the question "Where are you from" with a side" example:"WEST SIDE", "SOUTH SIDE" or "NORTHSIDE." (In my case, it’s “The other side of ‘The Lake’”)

You know what the phone number is to Empire Carpet! (*sings* Five, Eight, Eight, Two, Three-Hundred, Empire!)

You wear gym shoes, not sneakers.

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 pluralize grocery stores and retail chains: "I'm going to Jewels"; "I bought it at Targets"; "I couldn't find parking at Wal-Marts" (In my case, it’s Meijer’s and not Meijer)

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.