You're a Long Islander...

If you can identify with this list of Long Island truisms.

An email that has been circulating for some time now illustrates Long Island life beautifully by crystallizing the Long Island experience into humorous, bite size pieces.

Most long Islanders will find these funny if not just plain true.

Non-Long Islanders may see hints of their own locales but, unless they've spent some time here they won't get most of this.

Have a nugget you think belongs here? Send it to me using the form at the bottom of this page.

If it's a good one I'll put on top of the list and give you credit.

The list:

  • When off Long Island you're puzzled that you can't find a gas station that sells beer at 2AM Good Friday.

  • You remember when all this was trees and "that development used to be a farm."

  • You know what Save the Oak Beach Inn bumper stickers are all about.

  • You understand the phrase going up-island.

  • You go to the beach right after school -- even in the dead of winter.

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

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

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

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

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

  • You never realize you have an accent till you leave.

  • Everything north of the Bronx is "upstate."

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

  • Either your parents or your grandparents lived in the city.

  • You'd pay $11.50 for a movie.

  • You don't live in Long Island. You live ON Long Island.

  • You know where the Commack Motor Inn is (and the White Castle next door.)

  • Your distant future might involve the state of Florida.

  • You can correctly pronounce places like Ronkonkoma, Hauppauge, Wantagh, Mineola, Islandia, Massapequa, Patchogue.

  • You know the location of 6 malls and a dozen McDonalds and 36 7-11's.

  • You never, ever want to "change at Jamaica."

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

  • No, you don't want mustard on that burger!!

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

  • You've had a seagull poop on your car.

  • You have or someone you know has fallen asleep on the LIRR and ended up in one of these three places; Babylon, Port Washington or Hicksville. Or worse yet, Speonk. Can you pronounce that?

  • You went to an elementary school that promoted dodge ball as the number 1 game among children 7-13.

  • You know White Castle is terrible for you and it gives you a stomach ache, but you periodically "Get the Crave."

  • You want the Yankees to stay in the Bronx, but would probably go to more games if they moved to Manhattan.

  • You think that somehow, the Jets and Giants still play in New York.

  • You've missed that "Drunk Train," the 2:42 out of Penn, and had the dreaded wait until 5:30.

  • You or someone you know has owned an animal that came from North Shore Animal League.

  • You've never taken an MTA bus.

  • The Long Island Expressway isn't really as bad as everybody thinks.

  • You don't associate Fire Island with gay men.

  • You know which parts of the Godfather were filmed on Long Island.

  • You've paid a $10 cover charge to get into a bar, but got nothing for it.

  • You miss whiffle ball and running through sprinklers.

  • Billy Joel said it best, "either you date a rich girl from the North Shore, or a cool girl from the South Shore."

  • You don't really see the big deal about the Hamptons, unless you got smashed at the Bordy Barn.

  • When people ask "where are you from?" you answer Long-Guy-Land and automatically assume everyone in the world knows that answer means New York.

  • The Belt Parkway sucks!

  • You've been stuck in a traffic jam for more than 2 hours (without moving).

  • Your parents took you to All American, Nathans or Carvel (on the way home from the beach).

  • You don't have to go far to see your family.

  • You remember Grumman.

  • You know the color of the water at Jones Beach is not BLUE!

  • You were upset when all the Roy Rogers turned into Wendy's and Arby's closed for good.

  • You can spout off all the LIRR stops between Penn Station and Ronkonkoma.

  • Paying $35 for a haircut doesn't sound so crazy.

  • You think the people from Brooklyn are "da wunz dat tawk wit a accent."

  • You went sledding in the sumps.

  • You knew of Massapequa before the Amy Fisher-Joey Buttafuoco nightmare.

  • You think going to Queens is a hike.

  • The first time you heard the term "Long Island Iced Tea" you were somewhere else and you laughed.

  • When you live somewhere else and are astounded to see that people actually stop at yellow lights.

  • When you just sort of presume that wherever you live, you'll be able to find good delis, good pizza, and good bagels.

  • You can name at least three bands that came from Long Island.

  • No word ends in an ER, just an AH.

Okay, your turn.

You Know You're From Long Island...

Can you finish any of the following sentences?

You know you're from Long Island when...

A true Long Islander...

Go ahead and give it a shot!

Enter Your Title

What Others Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Back to Long Island..........  starstarstarstarstar
You move away from Long Island because you thought that there was a better place to live, and then you can't wait to get back home...............

Jolly Rogers & Potatoes  starstarstarstarstar
You remember Lollipop farm, Jolly Rogers and Adventureland.

You found potatoes in your backyard when you dug it up to put in a garden

The sea in his blood  starstarstarstarstar
A true Long Islander has ocean water in his blood & can still hear the surf no matter how far from the beach he is.

Knish  starstarstarstarstar
You know what a knish is, and that you put mustard on it.

"Hick"sville  starstarstar
You are somewhere else and you mention "Hicksville" and people start giggling.

Same thing happens when you mention Yonkers.
-Bill

Leaving NYC  Not rated yet
When you drive from Queens NYC you know the instant you cross the line into Nassau county because there are no more pot holes in the road. [at least ...

Nunley's  Not rated yet
You played mini golf at Nunley's and rode the carousel.

You know that you are a Long Islander if  Not rated yet
You remember Frank Buck's Massapequa Zoo.

Original  Not rated yet
You remember bungalow bar, good humor and Mister Softee ice cream trucks.

You order a pie or a slice, not a pizza pie.

You remember Wetson's hamburgers ...

Trying to get back  Not rated yet
When you have a framed Long Island map dish towel hanging somewhere in your house.

A NY Lion  Not rated yet
When you can remember the Ducks playing the Dixie Flyers in Commack and drinking beer in the bleachers.

Just a Walk to the Beach  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when...
no matter where you are you can walk to the beach.

You know you're from Long Island when...  Not rated yet
You have been to a concert at either Westbury Music Fair or Jones Beach Theater!

The Good Rats at Ubies OTJ  Not rated yet
The Good Rats at Ubies OTJ every Thursday night. They were the only local band that played all original music.The singer's name is Peppi Marchello and ...

Peteyboy  Not rated yet
You saw Hot Tuna & Richie Blackmore's Rainbow at the Commack Arena about once a month.

Sump Frogs in the Burbs  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when you remember your fascination and disgust when the sump at the end of your street (which used to be a potato field ...

Pumping Gas, etc.  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when you feel weird to pump your gas first and THEN go inside to pay!!
(They do that upstate)

What about Big Barry'...

Kid from MP  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when...

You moved to Calif. and spend most of your time looking for real NY Pizza and every piece you try tastes like ...

You know you're from Long Island when...  Not rated yet
When every time you drive on Rt 110 you have to tell your kids about going to the drive-in in your pajamas.

accent  Not rated yet
A true Long Islander knows that we have a different accent then people from Brooklyn and da Bronx. We explain that we have a Long Island accent.

Pink PT Boat  Not rated yet
When you tell people you saw a Pink PT Boat on Jones Creek and weren't drunk !

Editor's note: Above image from Navy 80G439416 Operation / Series:...

Native American Heritage  Not rated yet
You are somewhere else and you mention Ronkonkoma or Hauppauge and find yourself drawn into describing the colloquial history of Native American Indians....

You know you're from Long Island when...  Not rated yet
You remember when the Islanders won the Stanley cup at the Nassau Coliseum four years in a row...

You stayed at the Garden City Hotel for your Wedding ...

Lorna Doone  Not rated yet
If at some point you child has tried soccer, baseball, lacrosse, football, hockey and basketball.

A true Long Islander   Not rated yet
Thinks the "sticks" are out east of here even if they are from Montauk, and the city is just west (in) of them even if they live in Brooklyn.

The Baldwins  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when...You find yourself perplexed about Staten Island and all that it stands for.

You know you're from Long Island ...

Cannolis and pop-arts  Not rated yet
Eating a cannoli is just as common as eating a pop-tart.

You go out of state and everyone says you should be an auctioneer because you talk fast.

By ...

Hamptons in the winter  Not rated yet
You've been to the Hamptons in the winter.

State Parkways  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when you refer to the Island's parkways as "Northern State" and "Southern State" - even though Northern Parkway and Southern ...

Kawfee?!  Not rated yet
You're talking to someone from Jersey and neither one can understand each other.

"What? You want some kawfee?" "No! I want Coffee..." "Kawfee?" "NO!...

Game Show Excitement?  Not rated yet
When you watch a game show and see people win a trip to New York and think "why are they so excited?"

The City  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when you can refer to New york City as "The city" and assume people know what you're talking about.

Clams and OBI  Not rated yet
You know you're from Long Island when you still have an Save the Oak Beach Inn bumper sticker on your van.

A true Long Islander can walk in to the ...

7-11s  Not rated yet
You live under the assumption that, no matter where you are, you're always within walking distance of at least one 7 Eleven, and you KNOW they will have ...