June 20, 2012

Part 2: The ultimate "You know you're from Long Island when . . ." list

Click on postcard to enlarge

By Dan Chapman and Phil Ebel IV

From Hey Long Island... Do U Remember....?


51. As much as you try not to … you still curse … a lot.

52. It's called a "Hero" … end of story.

53. You remember the "Bar Car" on the LIRR.

54. You know someone what an egg cream is.

55. You know what to do with a lacrosse stick.

56. You know you CANNOT take a bus from the Port Authority in New York to Long Island, but you can go anywhere else in the United States.

57. You can't say "Hot Dog Beach" without giggling from the memories.

58. You remember sharing a Kitchen Sink at Jahn's.

59. Hawaiian Tropic was your first form of "sunscreen".

60. It took you several summers, but you actually visited the OBI South, East & North.

61. My Father's Place" was not your parents' house.

62. You saw the Stray Cats before they were famous.

63. "The Long Island Press" was a newspaper, second in popularity only to Newsday.

64. You or an older relative hate Walter O'Malley for moving the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.

65. You leave your money on the bar.

66. You know the difference between the “Miracle Mile” (Manhasset) and the “Nautical Mile” (Freeport).

67. You could name the bartenders and bouncers at The Salty Dog, Ryan's, Zolie's, Hammerheads, Speaks, Solomon Grundy's, Mad Hatter, Chaucer's Ale House, Hutley’s, Right Track Inn, Max's of Wantagh, Ed's Bay Pub, Maracash, Malibu, 1890's Club, Ubies OTJ, etc …

68. Coffee – Regular doesn't mean "caffeinated".

69. You still get sick to your stomach not seeing the World Trade Towers off in the distance.

70. Flip-flops are normal, even in January.

71. You drive down Dune Road to shake your head at the strange houses, and try to figure out how people could live in them.

72. You know that “Amity” was a fictional place in “Jaws”, and when they filmed the movie, they filmed it in Connecticut.

73. You know exactly what they mean when they say "Don't change at Jamaica."

74. You know that The Drift Inn and Neptune’s are in the same building, but you also know that they are NOTHING alike.

75. You keep saying that, “One of these times, when we’re driving out to Montauk, we’re going to stop and eat at the Lobster Inn”, but you’re always in a hurry and you never do.

76. The exact pronunciation is: Commack: “Com-Mack” and “Co-Mack” are both OK; Hauppauge: “Hop-Pog”; Islandia: “Eye-Landia” not “Is-Landia”; Islip: “Eye-Slip” not “Is-Slip”: Massapequa: “Mass-a-Pee-kwa” Mattituck: “Matt-ti-Tuck” (There is no wrong way) Mineola: “Minnie-Ola” Patchogue: “Patch-og” not “Patch-a-goo” Quogue: “Kwog” or “Kwoge” Ronkonkoma: “Ron-Konk-oma” not “Ron, Con, Coma”; Shinnecock: “Shin-ehcock” Wantagh: “Wan-Taw” not “Wan-Tough”

77. You and your friends are going to the beach, but the word beach never comes up in the conversation. Instead, it sounds something like this..."Well, we could go to Jones, but Moses is closer, the North Shore’s too rocky...whatever, let’s go to the Hamptons."

78. You’ve skated or square danced at Jones Beach.

79. You’ve gotten a face full of melted butter eating Roasted Corn.

80. You’ve made the mistake of trying to drive on Sound Avenue on a weekend in October.

81. You know that it's possible to take Jericho Turnpike all the way to Queens...but you would never, ever do it.

82. Lake Ronkonkoma was formed from glacier water.

83. Parallel parking in your drivers ed class was pointless...you only had to do it next to one car.

84. You live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world, but you almost never go there.

85. When you're away from Long Island, you love it and when you're home, you don't.

86. You think if you're not from Long Island or NYC, you're not really from New York.

87. You know the exact point at which Queens turns into Nassau simply on intuition.

88. You don't go to Manhattan, you go to "The City."

89. You never realized you had an accent until you left.

90. Everything north of the Bronx is "upstate."

91. At some point in your life you've gone clamming.

92. You’ve eaten hot dogs from a van on the side of the road.

93. Either your parents or your grandparents lived in "The City."

94. You know there’s only one “H” in Southampton.

95. You know where the Commack Motor Inn is. (Just leave it at that).

96. Your distant future might involve Florida.

97. You know the location of six malls and a dozen McDonalds and 36 7-Elevens.

98. You've tried to find the Amityville Horror house.

99. You can't understand why a diner would ever close.

100. You know that Long Island is not pronounced “Long-Guyland”.