Another “You Know You’re From New Jersey When…”
There are a lot of “You Know You’re From New Jersey When…” type things floating around the internet. Some of them are not applicable to me and where I’m from in Jersey. So, I’m compiling my own in light of the fact that I was just there last weekend. Many of these are from other lists, and I made a few of my own additions and included links.
- You never had school on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.
- You don’t pump your own gas.
- You know what real pizza tastes like, and you know that a bagel is much more than a roll with a hole in the middle.
- All good nights must end at a diner–preferably with cheese fries. You don’t understand why other states don’t have 24 hour diners.
- You say “cawfee” and “dawg”.
- You have always lived within 20 minutes of a mall.
- You’ve gone to the Princeton Record Exchange and left with a ton of CDs and spent less than $30.
- Every Passover the school cafeterias serve tuna on matzoh.
- You’ve been seriously injured (or know someone who was) at Action Park.
- It’s Great Adventure, NOT Six Flags!
- You know that the state isn’t one big oil refinery.
- You shop at Wawa, usually to get Tastycakes and Herr’s potato chips.
- Everyone calls the beach “The Shore”. (Actually, we never did this because we’re originally from Brooklyn, but most people do.)
- You know what a Piney is.
- You remember the song from the Palisades Park commercials.
- You know that “Acme” is an actual store, not just a Warner Bros creation.
- Every class you were in had someone named Maria or Tony.
- You weren’t raised in New Jersey — you were raised in either North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey.
- In the summer you buy corn on the cob from a farm stand.
- You pick your own pumpkins for Halloween.
- You get excited when Shop Rite has its annual Can-Can sale.
- You’ve never heard someone speak with a “New Joisey” accent.
- You know what a “jug handle” is.
- You don’t think “What exit?” is very funny, because it’s not applicable for everybody.
- You used to shop at Bamberger’s, Channel, Bradlees, Caldor, and Jamesway.
- You can’t pass by an STS without thinking: “STS - Yes!”
- You used to go to the Turtle Back Zoo and The Land of Make Believe. (And you know the creepy legend of Jenny Jump!
- You know someone who has run into Bruce Springsteen.
- You know who Tillie is.
- You’ve been stuck in terrible traffic on the George Washington Bridge.
- You pass by abandoned farmhouses all the time.
- You know what jimmies are.
- It’s funnel cake, not fried dough!
- Not only was there an ice cream truck, but also an Italian ice truck that came around.
- Every time someone in Hollywood makes fun of Jersey, you’re mad and proud at the same time.
- You know that the Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey.
- You know “that smell” comes from Staten Island.
- Your car is covered in yellow-green dust in April.
- In high school you, or someone you know, worked at a Friendly’s.
- You have mandatory recycling enforced by law.
- You always pass by Buicks with Hefty Bags as windows.
- You’ve been on the water flume at Seaside Heights.
- You know about the legend of the Jersey Devil.
- At the end of the summer, you either go to a county fair, Fireman’s Fair, or a 4-H Fair.
- You’ve been camping. (Especially in the Pine Barrens or Cape May!)
- You know where the Giants and Jets actually play.
- You know that people from South Jersey have a different accent than from North and Central Jersey.
8 Responses to “Another “You Know You’re From New Jersey When…””
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I miss the Can-Can sale. There is no equivalent down here.
And I don’t like having to pump my own gas!
I hate pumping my own gas. Where I used to live in Watertown, I’d pass a full service gas station every day to work…but now my route only passes by self-service. It bums me out!
- Cape May was a fancy vacation.
- You know the names of more than one person in a local ice cream parlor on any given night.
- Your makeout spot in high school had a view of some part of Manhatten.
- You know why the shoes are hanging above the street.
- Holidays meant seafood.
- You don’t take a freeway to EWR and you get there faster.
Just off the top of my head.
oooooh…one more…
- You can’t use a clutch.
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You know, I always saw the shoes, but why ARE they hanging above the street?
The original meaning of the shoes was a sign that someone got clocked in the ‘hood. Then it just became like a general memorial-thing, especially in Hoboken. That’s at least what I was told by a longtime resident of Washington Street.
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Interesting. Where I lived was pretty rural at the time but I used to see that in Brooklyn and Queens.
And Cape May WAS a fancy vacation! Hahaha.
I have to disagree with the Yom Kippur matza and Passover comment. I grew up in North Jersey and there was only one Jewish kid in my entire High School. I moved to Central Jersey when I was in my 20’s and was amazed at how many Jewish people there were. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it was just way different than what I was used to. I never even knew what Yom Kippur or Roshashana was until I moved. My town was all Italians, Irish and Germans. I love learning about different cultures though :)