[Meme] You know you live in Chicago/Illinois if...
I'm from Southern Illinois which actually begins south of I-70 at Effingham, thankyouverymuch. But most of these still apply to me. And I've lived in Downtown Chicago before so a lot of those apply, too.


you know you live in chicago if...
• You - correctly - don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. [Unless singing the loyalty at Illini games, yes.]
• You become irate at people who do. [Very. Very. Irate.]
• You measure distance in minutes. [Um, duh? So much easier.]
• You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines". [Yep. Same goes for Bourbonnais, Manteno, Skokie, Lemont, Palos, Mundelein, etc.]
• Your school classes were canceled because of excessive cold. [Yep.]
• Your school classes were canceled because of excessive heat. [Yep.]
• You've even had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day. [Yes. *facepalm*]
• Stores don't have sacks, they have bags. [Duh.]
• You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year. [Yep]
• You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "If you go to the mall I wanna go with." [Oh, yeah. All the damn time.]
• You can locate Illinois on the United States map. [...This is hard to do for people???]
• Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is at least twice as big as the bun and accompanied only by ketchup and a dill pickle slice. [Minus the ketchup for me. Om. Nom. Nom.]
• You install security lights on your house and garage and then leave both unlocked. [Hahahaha, yeah...]
• When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, "It was different." [Different/Interesting. Yeah.]
• You carry jumper cables in your car. [WHY WOULDN'T YOU?]
• You know what the numbers I-80, 55, and 90 mean. [Yes.]
• You realize that I-290, I-90, I-94, and I-294 are all different roads. [Yes. And I also know which direction the N or S route goes through the city. And no, it's not North or South.]
• You refer to any interstate highway as "the Tollway" or else "the expressway." [Expressway, bb. But only in large cities.]
• You know the given names of the interstates, i.e.: Stevenson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Dan Ryan. [Yep. I also know how to shortcut around them when traffic is bad. Ha.]
• You refer to anything south of I-80 as "Southern Illinois". [NO. >/]
• You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake". [Yep.]
• You refer to Chicago as "The City". [When I'm there or in the suburbs? Yep.]
• No matter where you are, when you hear the term "Downtown" you immediately assume they are talking about Downtown Chicago. [Yeahhhh. It's really bad if I'm drunk. *_*]
• You find yourself referring to the central business district of any city you happen to be in as "The Loop." [Nah.]
• You have two favorite football teams: The Bears and anyone who beats the Green Bay Packers. [DAMN STRAIGHT.]
• A brawl over which Chicago baseball team is better breaks out every year at your neighborhood block party. [At any party, really.]
• Even though you live 3 hours south, you still buy "The Trib." [I live 5.5 hours south and we still buy it.]
• You know what goes on a Chicago Style Hot Dog. [YES. AND I WANT ONE NOW, GOD.]
• You know what Chicago Style Pizza is -- and feel pity for those that don't, and with good reason! [DAMN STRAIGHT. FORK AND KNIFE, BB.]
• You know why they call Chicago "the Windy City". [Yeah. And it's not because of the politics. I think they should just call it the Windy State, honestly. Holy fuck.]
• You understand what "lake-effect" means. [Yep. It means I'm still fucking freezing in The City when it's supposedly 70 degrees.]
• You know the difference between Amtrack and Metra, and know which station they end up at. [Yep. And like Kirstin said, it's Amtrak.]
• You have ridden an "L" (elevated train). [Well, duh. How else am I supposed to get around Downtown? A car? LOLNO. P.S. They occasionally go underground, too.]

There also should be one for "You get annoyed while tourists think it's hilarious to shout out 'But I'm already there!' at the Chicago Ave stop." *facepalm*
And "You know the 'Jackson Tunnel' is not a roadway."
And "The word 'shuffle' makes you reminiscent."
And "You've never met him, but you know who Steve Bartman is and you either respond with 'I hate that guy' (North Suburbs) or 'I love that guy' (South Suburbs) at any mention of his name."
And "At some point in your life you've wished for a Tony Kukoc jersey."
And "You are unfazed by 6-way and 8-way intersections."
And "You arbitrarily tack on S's to singular nouns. Example: 'I'm going to the Jewels'."
And "That last example made sense to you."
And "You really, really don't like geese."
And "You get irate whenever 'the guest' makes a mistake during the 7th inning stretch."
And "And you know what '7th inning stretch' means."
And "During a baseball game, the 7th inning stretch is more important to you than the national anthem."
And "It will always, ALWAYS be 'Comiskey Park'."