Now that we're planning to move away from the Land of Lincoln, it's easy to get all nostalgic. I've lived in the Chicago suburbs since I started college in 1983--that's 24 years, over half my life. Here's what all I'll be missing....

(HT: Kelly)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM CHICAGO WHEN...
*You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You become irate at people who do.
*You measure distance in minutes (especially "from the city"). And you swear everything is pretty much 15 minutes away.
*you have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines." (I used to live there, in fact!)
*Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
*Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
*Stores don't have sacks, they have bags.
*You understand that I-290, I-90, I-94, and I-294 are all different roads.
*You know the names of the interstates: the Stevenson, the Kennedy, the Eisenhower, the Dan Ryan, and the Edens. But you call the interstates "expressways."
*You refer to anything South of I-80 as "Southern Illinois."
*You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake."
*You refer to Chicago as "The City."
*You buy "The Trib."
*You understand what "lake-effect" means.
*You end all your sentences with a preposition, like "where you are at," "Where are we going to?"
*You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra, and know which station they end up at. (notice the preposition ending!!)
*You have ridden the "L"
*You respond to the question "Where are you from?" with a "side." Example:"WEST SIDE," "SOUTH SIDE" or "NORTH SIDE."
*You know what the phone number is to Empire Carpet!
*You know what Giordanos, Lou Malnati's, and Gino's have in common.
*You know exactly how many cars are "legally" allowed to turn left after the light turns red.
*You can distinguish between the following area codes: 847, 630, 773, 708, 312, & 815.
*You don't flinch when you pay the fifth toll of your 45-minute car ride on the highway.

I'd have to add:
*No matter what store the bag is from, it's a "Jewel bag."
*When referencing the suburbs, you always give a direction and if neccesary, a degree. Example: "northern suburbs," "far western suburbs."
*You know what time Traffic and Weather Together is, on which station, and how often it is repeated.
*You know somebody who knew somebody who worked for Al Capone.
*Your name is carved somewhere at the old Gino's East.
*"Wrigley" makes you think of buildings and baseball, not chewing gum.

C'mon, fellow Chicagoans--what would you add?

I'm gonna disable the spam filter dealie to make it easy for anyone to comment. Maybe we'll try it for awhile here and see what happens....