You Know . . .

When I was about six years old I thought we lived in the middle of the world and everybody else lived around us. I remember trying to figure out how other people got to where they were going if they didn't start out from our place. Eventually, I was transplanted from Lancaster County to Berks County, but I never lived anywhere other than Eastern Pennsylvania. I don't know about you but . . .

You know you’re from Eastern Pennsylvania when...
· You hear horses clopping down a paved street and don’t need to run to the window to see what's going on outside.
· Red Beet Eggs and Shoofly Pie make your list of top ten favorite foods.
· You know cinders will be spread on the roads instead of sand when it snows.
· You think "Agnes" and when you hear 1972 and "TMI" when you hear 1979.
· You are traveling out of state and if asked where you are from...you say "P-A" rather than saying "Pennsylvania".
· Words like: buggy, hoagie, ham balls, and spritzing actually mean something to you.
· You ask the waitress for "dippy eggs" for breakfast.
· You call Sloppy Joes "barbecue."
· You can stop along the road to buy fruits, vegetables, or crafts on the 'honor system.'
· You consider Pittsburgh to be 'out west' and you know the fastest way to Philly is the Turnpike.
· You do things "once," as in "I'll go check in the back room once."
· You end your sentence with an unnecessary preposition. Example:"Where's my coat at?"
· You have an uncontrollable urge to buy bread and milk when you hear the word "snow."
· You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
· You know several places to purchase or that serve Scrapple, Lebanon Bologna, Hot Bacon Dressing, Soft Pretzels, and Cheesesteaks.
· You know the only way to make good fastnachts is to cook them in lard.
· You know what "Cow Tipping" and "Elbedrich Hunting" are.
· You know what a "State Store" is, and your out of state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.
· You know what a Moravian star is and what to do with it.
· You know what REAL pot pie is.
· You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.
· You live within two miles of a plant that makes potato chips, corn chips, pretzels, candy, or ice cream, or that packages turkeys or bologna.
· You prefer Hershey's Chocolate to Godiva.
· You say the correct pronunciation LANG-kist-er (instead of Lan-CAST-er), and LEB-nin (instead of Leb-a-NON).
· You say things like, "Outen the lights," "I'm calling off today," and "They're calling for snow."
· You say you're going out to the shed "awhile," instead of "for awhile."
· You think everyone from another state has an accent.
· You think the start of deer hunting is a national holiday.
· Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
· Your turkey has "filling," not "stuffing" or "dressing."
· You know what distelfinks and hex signs are.
· You actually understand this list.

You may live elsewhere, but if your roots are here you understand the list above as well as I. Since this is such a colorful place to live, why are you there instead of here?