OT: How you know you are a Chicagoan!

dani21496

Cathlete
Chicagoans! I was laughing at it! Here you go!

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 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.

You expect corruption in local politics.

You go to the Dells in the summer to get away from the other 20 thousand that followed you.

You've been caught speeding in Wisconsin because you had Illinois plates.

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 a good gyros joint.

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).

You can recite many of "The Blues Brothers" lines and know where they filmed certain scenes.

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"

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"). And you swear everything is pretty much 15 minutes away

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"

"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!

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 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!

You wear gym shoes, not sneakers.

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

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 cursed at a cyclist, pedestrian, or in-line skater on the lakefront path.

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.

You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Chicago.


Hope you enjoyed it!
 
BTW...I can't get the Empire carpet song out of my head now.


588-2300 EMPIRE!!!!


:p

I'm having Gino's for dinner tonight too!! We had Lou Malnati's last week.

:)
 
A lot of these apply to Milwaukee, too.

And THANKS a LOT. Now I have that stupid Empire jingle in my head too! :)
 
Ah...I too and a relocated Chicago gal.

Forgot one.... You mood revolves around your distance from THE JUNCTION!!!!

I had a boyfriend who had to go by Wrigley every night during bb season to check the flags.

We lived so near Wrigley that we used to charge people 5 bucks to park in our spot during games. The spot was right under the El tracks and when it rained stuff from the tracks would run all over our spot and ruin the paint.

Some days I kind of miss it!

Melissa
 
I'm a born and bred Chicagoan although I too have since moved but am making plans to move back to my hometown.

I am sitting here having flashbacks of my favorite Vienna hot dog and Gyros joint, to the taste of Giordano's stuffed pizza (my fave), to the fact that I lived on the Northside, to being one of those in-line skaters on the lake boardwalk, my Lincoln towing nightmare, and the fifty-million street cleaning tickets I think I wracked up by never wanting to move my car and lose my prime parking spot on the street. That baby was more valuable than any lottery ticket in my neighborhood. Don't get me started on what a nightmare the Kennedy can be, even on the weekends. The Tribune is my favorite paper, and I never realized my saying "Wanna go with," was a Chicago thing god knows I say it all the time. Gym shoes too, I've never called them sneakers, and soda is pop not soda pop. I rode the "L" so much I knew the schedule of when that bad boy would reach my station by heart.

That reminds me, you know you're a Chicagoan when you consider walking three blocks from your house to get to where your car is parked as "just up the street."

I'm definitely passing this one on to my friends that are still living in Chi-town.
 
I do miss those Vienna hot dogs. When I was pregnant, I hadn't eaten meat in about 2 years. About the 5th month, I couldn't get hot dogs off my mind. I worked across from the Shubert and there used to be a stand off tucked State that was adjacent to a wig shop. Foot long & Fries for 1.50 and they opened at 10 AM. I ate about a million of them. They also had a small b&w TV in the back and I used to sneak over there and watch All My Kids and eat hot dogs.

My true downfall was Demon Dogs at the Fullerton L. I lived in Ravenswood and I would hop off the El, go down and eat a hot dog, then hop back on. When I was in my 8th month, I started having contractions at work and my doc asked me to go to St. Joe's and meet her just to check me out. Of course I arranged to meet my husband at the Fullerton El. He did mention that I might want to get the mustard off the front of my giant maternity dress before we got to the hospital.

To this day I can't stand to watch anyone put ketchup on a dog - it is so wrong!
Melissa

PS - Don't even get me started on SMELTS!
 
I do miss those Vienna hot dogs. When I was pregnant, I hadn't eaten meat in about 2 years. About the 5th month, I couldn't get hot dogs off my mind. I worked across from the Shubert and there used to be a stand off tucked State that was adjacent to a wig shop. Foot long & Fries for 1.50 and they opened at 10 AM. I ate about a million of them. They also had a small b&w TV in the back and I used to sneak over there and watch All My Kids and eat hot dogs.

My true downfall was Demon Dogs at the Fullerton L. I lived in Ravenswood and I would hop off the El, go down and eat a hot dog, then hop back on. When I was in my 8th month, I started having contractions at work and my doc asked me to go to St. Joe's and meet her just to check me out. Of course I arranged to meet my husband at the Fullerton El. He did mention that I might want to get the mustard off the front of my giant maternity dress before we got to the hospital.

To this day I can't stand to watch anyone put ketchup on a dog - it is so wrong!
Melissa

PS - Don't even get me started on SMELTS!
 
I live in the Milwaukee area also and some of these are very familiar. Now I have that lovely song in my head also. Is it wrong of me to feel some joy when I see Illinois drivers on the side of the road getting a ticket }(

Pedmom, I live just East of Mukwonago, so Hello neighbor!

Laurie
 
I live in the Milwaukee area also and some of these are very familiar. Now I have that lovely song in my head also. Is it wrong of me to feel some joy when I see Illinois drivers on the side of the road getting a ticket }(

Pedmom, I live just East of Mukwonago, so Hello neighbor!

Laurie
 
These are great. I'm from Michigan but lived in Chicago for 10 years. We just moved back to Michigan earlier this year but we are really missing Chicago. Chicago had definitely become "home" for us. I too have the Empire Carpet phone number in my head now! Imagine how excited I was to see that they now have Empire Carpet commercials here in MI. What about the Menards commercial "save big money at Menards"?

Or the butter, caramel, cheddar popcorn blend? When I first moved to Chicago, I wondered why anyone in their right mind would mix those 3 kinds of popcorn together. This past summer, I went to a popcorn store here in MI and asked the clerk to mix those 3 kinds of popcorn...she said that they already had that as one of their mixes...it was called the Chicago mix.

I will definitely pass these on.

Michelle
 
These are great. I'm from Michigan but lived in Chicago for 10 years. We just moved back to Michigan earlier this year but we are really missing Chicago. Chicago had definitely become "home" for us. I too have the Empire Carpet phone number in my head now! Imagine how excited I was to see that they now have Empire Carpet commercials here in MI. What about the Menards commercial "save big money at Menards"?

Or the butter, caramel, cheddar popcorn blend? When I first moved to Chicago, I wondered why anyone in their right mind would mix those 3 kinds of popcorn together. This past summer, I went to a popcorn store here in MI and asked the clerk to mix those 3 kinds of popcorn...she said that they already had that as one of their mixes...it was called the Chicago mix.

I will definitely pass these on.

Michelle
 
I've lived here my whole life accept for the 4 years I was in the Navy. I was stationed out in San Diego. I loved living in San Diego but I felt homesick for Chicago the entire time. Giordano's pizza is to die for and Vienna Beef Chicago Style Hot Dogs are my all time favorites. My mom wants to meet me at Portillo's tonight and I'll be ordering one! I cannot understand why people put ketchup on hotdogs either. :) Vienna beef hot dogs are the only kind I'll eat too.

I used to work downtown and I'd walk about 1 mile & 1/2 every day to the Metra train station and pass about two different Garrett's popcorn shops. I could smell it 2 blocks away!! Yuuuuuummmm!! I love that stuff. Here's the website in case anyone is interested! I'd always see a bunch of people with Garrett Popcorn bags riding the train home.

http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/
 
I've lived here my whole life accept for the 4 years I was in the Navy. I was stationed out in San Diego. I loved living in San Diego but I felt homesick for Chicago the entire time. Giordano's pizza is to die for and Vienna Beef Chicago Style Hot Dogs are my all time favorites. My mom wants to meet me at Portillo's tonight and I'll be ordering one! I cannot understand why people put ketchup on hotdogs either. :) Vienna beef hot dogs are the only kind I'll eat too.

I used to work downtown and I'd walk about 1 mile & 1/2 every day to the Metra train station and pass about two different Garrett's popcorn shops. I could smell it 2 blocks away!! Yuuuuuummmm!! I love that stuff. Here's the website in case anyone is interested! I'd always see a bunch of people with Garrett Popcorn bags riding the train home.

http://www.garrettpopcorn.com/
 
Dani,

One of my suppliers just gave me a 5 gal canister of the popcorn mix on Tuesday. I put it out here at the office, otherwise I would be eating too much of it. I like to combine the Cheese & Carmel corn.:D

Laurie
 
Dani,

One of my suppliers just gave me a 5 gal canister of the popcorn mix on Tuesday. I put it out here at the office, otherwise I would be eating too much of it. I like to combine the Cheese & Carmel corn.:D

Laurie
 
Since Illinois is correctly pronounced with the final "s" silent, that wouldn't necessarily mean you're from Chicago (but from anywhere in the midwest at least, where people know how it's pronounced). I get annoyed (though not irate) when I'm on the phone with some salesperson or magazine rep, etc., and they say "Illinoise"
 
Since Illinois is correctly pronounced with the final "s" silent, that wouldn't necessarily mean you're from Chicago (but from anywhere in the midwest at least, where people know how it's pronounced). I get annoyed (though not irate) when I'm on the phone with some salesperson or magazine rep, etc., and they say "Illinoise"
 
I lived there 7 years and my husband was born and raised. We already have all our dining planned out when we go back in a few weeks!
My MIL and her sisters all say Jewel"s", and remember Venture"s"?
BTW, you can order Portillo's online. It is shipped in dry ice, then you cook it. My DH is dying for an Italian Beef sandwich! We are outside Atlanta now, so he is grown fond of Bar-B-Que to pass the time between our trips home.
Bobbi
 
Love the post! I've lived in Chicago (Northside!) my whole life and will never move. These are so dead on - however..I have to pay .50 for my toll on the edens...ugh!!!
 
Oh, how I miss the Italian Beef Combo. It has to be on Gonnella bread or it is no good!!!

Have you ever been to Mr. Beef on Orleans? They blow Portillo's off the map!

Melissa
 

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