Happy THON Weekend, Penn State! While THON is finally here, and I would love to write a whole post about it, I have to keep with theme, so sadly we will not be talking about the 46 dance marathon in this post. BUT, I did some research and found a particularly interesting THON-Philly connection. You can read about the Liberty Ball, an annual fundraiser, here.

However, I compiled a list of relatable things for people who comes from a town “outside of Philly.” I know that these things are just part of me personality at this point, and while some are annoying, they all definitely make me nostalgic for home.

Without further ado, 20 Thing You’ll Relate to if You’re From “Outside Philly”:

1. If you travel anywhere beyond the eastern part of PA, you probably just say you’re from Philly if asked. It’s easier that way.

2. You have a Wawa in walking distance of your house, school, place of employment, etc… Within a three minute radius of my house, there’s six alone. Yep, I counted. And I’ll tell you that the one on Bethlehem Pike in Souderton is the best one.

 

3. In grade school, every field trip was to Philadelphia. And that meant looking at the Liberty Bell for the hundredth time and going to the Franklin Institute for every science class ever until eighth grade. It wasn’t all boring though. If you were lucky, you got to go to the Reading Terminal Market for

lunch.

4. The whole neighborhood rivalry thing was not something you had any knowledge about. I mean, having cousins and friends living in Philly, I’ve learned that Fox Chase and Rhawnhurst are completely different, and you won’t wanna be caught dead in one if you’re from the other. Maybe it’s because neighborhoods in the suburbs are about twenty miles away from each other, who knows?

5. Even though you’re technically not from the city, you still talk weird. I can’t even count the amount of times people have pointed out that its “wa-ter” not “wooder.” I apologize if my voice offends you, I can’t change it.

6. When you finally reached the age when your parents let you and your friends take the train alone into Philadelphia. SEPTA transportation kinda blows sometimes, but it’s heaven when it gets you out of the ‘burbs for a few hours.

7. And then once you and your friends get to the city, immediately finding a brick wall to take a bunch of pics for VSCO and instagram. When you’re not from the place, it’s actually pretty beautiful. True story…

8. Being afraid of the city. Okay, this one doesn’t exactly apply to me, but growing up I would always hear other kids, and more specifically their parents, say things like, “Be careful on the field trip, it’s dangerous in Philly.” Yes, I’m not denying that there are some pretty high crime rates in Philadelphia. All I’m saying is I think the fear is blown a bit out of proportion by some people. Maybe it’s because both my parents grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, or just that I’ve been there enough with friends and cousins, but whatever the reason, I don’t necessarily see Philadelphia as one of the worst places in the world in terms of safety. By the way, the crime rate has been dropping recently!

 

9. Going on vacation, means going down the shore. This one claims true for Philly residents as well. You don’t go to the beach, you go down the shore. Every summer, for a week or two. If you were lucky, you were down for the Fourth of July. The Jersey Shore was the best vacation  spot and you and you’re classmates could debate about exactly the best spot for days. For the record, Ocean City is where I have the best childhood shore memories, but I think Wildwood has gotta take the cake for teenagers and young adults. To each his own though.  If you want to know what differentiates each beach town, here’s something you can read.

10. Keeping with the shore theme, we put jimmies on ice cream, not sprinkles. Honestly I’ve said jimmies my whole life without even knowing that it was considered weird by other locations. Now I just avoid using the word all together. Oh, and dip eggs, too. I said this in the dining hall the other day to one of my friends and immediately realized I should have just stopped talking. Instead, I tried to explain it and ended up looking like more of a freak. Oh well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. This one is somewhat related to Number 1, but I thought it was fitting to put last. So, have you ever been far from home- like Disney World or New York or something- and someone asks where you’re from? So you say your usually response: “I’m from Philly, how bout you?” And then they hit you with a bombshell: “Oh no way I’m from Philly too- West Kensington how bout you?”

Oh no. Now you have to do the awkward rewind and explain that you’re actually not from Philadelphia, but outside of it. The horror. Nothing’s worse than being caught by a Philadelphia native, because like I’ve said in a previous post, it’s such a stigma that everyone who lives within a fifty mile radius of Philadelphia, “tries to be from Philly.” Whatever that means.

 

There’s my list of ten things you can relate to if you live outside of Philly. It’s a hard life sometimes, but it’s the best way to live.