Monday, February 23, 2009

Celebrating Life in Upstate New York

Growing up and living in Sandy Pond for the first 25 years of my life seemed very normal to me - until I moved away.


Let me illustrate...

Jeff Foxworthy on Upstate NY:

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Upstate New York.

If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Saranac Lake is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Upstate New York.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you might live in Upstate New York.


If you instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year, you might live in Upstate New York.

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Upstate New York.

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you might live in Upstate New York.


If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Upstate New York.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE UPSTATE NEW YORKER WHEN:

1. "Vacation" means going South past Albany for the weekend.

2. You measure distance in hours.





3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.

5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.

6. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

7. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.




8. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.

9. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.

10. Down South to you means Albany.

11. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.


12. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

13. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."

14. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Upstate New York friends.



You Might Be From Upstate New York if....

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work
there, you might live in Upstate New York.

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might
live in Upstate New York.


YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE UPSTATE NEW YORKER WHEN:

You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including
weddings).

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave
both unlocked.

You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend / wife
knows how to use them.

You can identify a southern or eastern accent.

You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.

A brat is something you eat.



Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole shed.

You go out to fish fry every Friday.


You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

4 comments:

  1. Hilarious. Jeff Foxworthy is one of my favorites. Steve Rouse the broadcaster in Baltimore is from Watertown and mentions his hometown once in a while.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joke about us all you want, but we don't let a few flakes of snow scare us like it does many of you. We're tough and proud to be from upstate NY, and I don't mean Albany or Peekskill, I mean the real upstate, northern Oswego County.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry scooter! As a born-in-Syracuse and original native of Sandy Pond, I understand your pride in where you live. Over the years I have learned that it doesn't matter where you live - it is what is in your heart that counts.

    Where is your sense of humor, your ability to take yourself not-so-seriously? Now THAT scooter, is an attribute of heartfelt personal character and integrity most of my upsate-NY friends and family possess...SK

    ReplyDelete
  4. Most of the jokes are true, I guess that takes away some of the humor and replaces it with pride.Love your blog. Can't wait to read more....AD

    ReplyDelete

Let me hear from you - your comments will make my day!