You Know You're From ------ When....

Okay, I thought this would be fun. Just go to Google.com and type the phrase:

You Know You’re From (Insert your State here) When

You will get a lot of pages with lists that you can copy and paste to post them here. It should be fun reading these.

Okay, here is me. A lot of the lists deal w/ southern California… so not all of the things on this list apply to me anymore because I moved to the central valley… but I will put in blue the ones that apply to me.



The fastest part of your commute is down your driveway.

You were born somewhere else.

You dive under a desk whenever a large truck goes by.

You drive to your neighborhood block party. (Okay, so I did this once )

You make over $300,000 and still can't afford a house.

You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.

Your child's 3rd-grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze.

You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and you can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.

A really great parking space can totally move you to tears.

A low speed police pursuit will interrupt ANY TV broadcast.

Gas costs $1.00 per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.

Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30am at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney really IS George Clooney.

Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.

You can't remember...is pot illegal???!!!

Its barely sprinkling rain and there's a report on every news station: "STORM WATCH 2003." lol

You pass an elementary school playground and the children are all busy with their cells or pagers.

It's barely sprinkling rain outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.

Both you AND your dog have therapists

You don't get snowdays off because theres only snow in Mammoth, Tahoe, Shasta, and Big Bear.

You can wear sandals all year long.

You go to the Beach - not "down to the shore." (Down the Shore? lol)

You know 65 mph really means 100.

You can get fresh and REAL Mexican food 24 hours a day.

We call it soda, not pop.

You eat an In n Out burger at least once a week!!!

You pack shorts and a T-shirt for skiing in the snow, and a sweater and a wetsuit for the beach.

You have to leave the big company meeting early because Billy Blanks himself is teaching the 4:00 PM Tae Bo class.

The Terminator is your governor.


============================

Now I want to hear about everyone else! :sillySmiley:

This is so funny.....I can't wait to see others too.:Hahaha:

You might be from Illinois if:


Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway SO TRUE
You've seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular
You measure distance in minutes YUP
Down south to you means Kentucky
You know several people who have hit a deer
You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines"
You think Chicago is a completely different state from Illinois.
You know the answer to the question, "Is this Heaven?"
Your school classes were cancelled because of cold
Your school classes were cancelled because of heat
You know where all the Yoders live
You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way
You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day
You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."
You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July
Stores don't have bags, they have sacks
You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.
You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.
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."
All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit or vegetable
You can locate Illinois on the United States map
Detassling was your first job
You've ever been on a "Geode Hunt"
Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun and accompanied only by ketchup and a dill pickle slice
You still pronounce the "s" in Illinois.
You learn your pickup will run without a muffler
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked
You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, pop, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows
When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, "It was different."
You consider being called a "Pork Queen" an honor
People from other states love to hear you say "Illinois" and other words with "Os" in them.
Your dream vacation is a trip to Rock Home Gardens
You carry jumper cables in your car
You drink "pop."
You know what the numbers I-80, 75 and 57 mean
You know what "cow tipping" is

Too funny

Hey what DOes "knee-high by the Fourth of July." mean? :think:

You know your from Ohio when ...

You've never met any celebrities.
Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
"Vacation" means driving through Hocking Hills or going to King's Island.
You've seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.
You measure distance in minutes.
Down south to you means Kentucky.
You know several people who have hit a deer.
Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
You've ridden the school bus for an hour each way.
You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better."
You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.
Stores don't have bags; they have sacks.
You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.
You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.
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."
All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.
You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
You carry jumper cables in your car.
You know what "cow tipping" or "Possum Kicking" is.
You only own 3 spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.
You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie.
The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires 6 pages for sports.
You think that deer season is a national holiday.
You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
You find -20 degrees F "a little chilly".
You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction.
You know what a real buckeye is, and have a recipe for candy ones.
You know if another Ohioian is from southern, middle or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouth.
You can spell words like Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas.
You know that Serpent Mound was not made by snakes.
You actually get these jokes and forward them to all your Ohio friends.
Isn't it sad? You just said "yup" and "uh-huh" or aint that the truth" to most of these!!!

Carol wrote:

Too funny

Hey what DOes "knee-high by the Fourth of July." mean? :think:

The corn should be "knee-high by the Fourth of July."

You know you're from Oregon when...


You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans in the trash.

You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.

You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.

You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" signal.

You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain.

You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima, and Willamette.

You are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers."

You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.
You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.

You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or people from California.

You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.

You measure distance in hours.

You own more than 10 articles of clothing that have microbreweries and/or brewpubs printed on them. Bonus for embroidered stuff.

You live equidistant to a symphony hall, a winery, and a volcano.

You complain about Californians as you sell your house to one for twice as much as you originally paid.

You know a bride and groom that registered at REI.

If someone ran your car off the highway, you might drown.

Know at least eight people who work for Intel or Nike, or used to work for Tektronix.

You obey all traffic laws except "keep right unless passing."

You think downtown is "scary" because you were panhandled there....once.

You've definitley used the five main freeways/highways: I-5, 217, 205, 26, and 84.

You know that Kindergarten Cop and The Goonies were filmed in Astoria and Cannon Beach, respectively.

You take pride in Lewis and Clark and know who Sacagawea is.

You were excited when the Crater lake, Oregon quarter came out.

You love The Shins... because they live here.

You love the Decemberists.... because they are from here...and live here.

You dress in layers (tank top, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, etc).

You remember Ramblin' Rod --and you laugh because you used to watch it or because you were on it for your birthday.

You are sad during Christmas because it never snows in the valley.

You know where the valley is.

You go out of state and wait in your car for someone to pump your gas.

You are more concerned about packing a sweatshirt or a jacket when going to the beach than packing a bathing suit.

You are aware that "The Shining" was filmed at Timberline Lodge.

The red nose on the 'made in oregon sign' starts your holiday season

You've seen the elvis impersonator at saturday market

You've been in or heard about a pillowfight in the middle of downtown.

You smile at people you don't know as you walk by them on the sidewalk.

You make subtle remarks about washington drivers, but save your real road rage for california drivers.

You know The Shane Companies radio commercial word for word -- "...Across the freeway from the washington square mall...open monday through friday til 8, saturday and sunday til 5...also available on shaneco.com."

You've witnessed 300 nude bicyclists just cruising around downtown like its no big deal.

You were thrilled that Scott Thomason finally stop putting his face on the back of his cars.

You should know it is illegal to buy or sell marijuana, but it is legal to smoke it on your own property.

I actually know a few of these, but a lot I haven't a clue..........I only live here, I am NOT from here............I am afraid I need to do the California one..........

You Know You’re From Arkansas When......

You visit the Arkansas State Fair mainly to see your neighbor's prize chicken.

You've been invited to or had a bunkin' party.

You carry jumper cables in your car.

You'd rather be Number One in football than Number One in education.

You think that recycling means riding your bike down the same old path.

Your school classes were canceled because of cold, heat, a tornado, hunting, or a livestock show.

Down South means Louisiana.

Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waitin' to pass a tractor on the highway.

You have no problem spelling or pronouncin' Ouachita or Possum Grape.

You've seen all the biggest bands…ten years after their last hit.

Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as big as the bun and comes with cole slaw on top.

You say catty-wampus and tumped over.

You see people wearing bib overalls at funerals.

You eat at Senor Tequila's for atmosphere and Lolita's Tex-Mex for salsa.

You say, "I voted for Clinton to get him out of the state."

You measure distance in minutes.

You know the difference between a deer dog, a duck dog and a coon dog by the way they bark.

You know a bunch of people who have hit a deer.

You or your neighbors have more hunting dogs than you have family members.

Goin' on "vacation" means headin' through Harrison on the way to Branson.

You've never met any celebrities.

You know a few that have also hit a coyote.

You know what a "cow drop" is.

You have your own secret bbq sauce.

You put security lights on your house and your garage and leave both of them unlocked.

You've seen the Boggy Creek Monster or it has at least taken your chickens, cattle, dogs or livestock.

Pulaski County is considered a foreign or exotic place.

You know what Toad Suck and Booger Holler are.

You consider being a "Beef Queen" an honor.

You know how to snipe hunt.

You abhor homosexuality, but love "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

You faithfully drink Pepsi, Mt. Dew, or Dr. Pepper everyday of your life.

When asked how your trip to any foreign, exotic place was you say, "It was different."

Stores don't have bags or carts…they have sacks and buggies.

You think orange barrels are really part of the interstate system.

Your traditional Thanksgiving dinner is a deep-fried turkey.

You see "No Hunting" signs are riddled with bullet holes.

You've ridden the school bus for an hour…each way.

You think "Animal House" is the training film for incoming athletes at the University of Arkansas.

Everyone you think of as a "liberal" is either Methodist or Catholic.

You've ever had to switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

You think that Bill Clinton is a lyin', cheatin' sumb****, but you'd still vote for him again in a heartbeat because he's OUR lyin' cheatin' sumb****.

You've "offered" someone an "a**-whoopin'. "

You end your sentences with a preposition, for example, "Where's my coat at?"…. "What's that made out of?"

The three food groups are Velveeta, pork rinds and a six-pack.

All the festivals around the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, bricks, or lumber.

When you give directions they include "over yonder," "down the road a piece," and "right near."

You drink sweet iced tea out of a sports bottle.

You think ethanol makes your truck run a lot better.

You're not commitment-phobic: you love God, guns and football.

You'd rather have a Budweiser beer museum than a presidential library.

Priming was your first job…and you know what it means.

You think pinto beans are nekkid without hamhocks, cornbread and buttermilk.

When the forecast calls for an inch of snow, you run out with all the other crazies to stand in line for three hours to buy a month's worth of groceries.

Sweet milk and torn up biscuits in a glass is your favorite dessert.

]You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.

You think bagels are nothing but a cruel doughnut joke invented by some Yankee!

You own three cars and one license plate.

Carol wrote:

Too funny

Hey what DOes "knee-high by the Fourth of July." mean? :think:

Not sure myself.:think:

Rhonda wrote:

You own three cars and one license plate.

This one made me lol.

Here's mine. Pretty much the same as Ohio, Illinois and Arkysaw before me. It's a midwest thing.

You know you're from Indiana if...

• You’ve never met any celebrities.
  
• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
  
• “Vacation” means driving through Amish Country or going to the State Fair.
  
• You’ve seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.
  
• You measure distance in minutes.
  
• You know several people who have hit a deer.
  
• You have no problem spelling or pronouncing “Terre Haute.”
  
• Your school classes were cancelled because of cold.
  
• Your school classes were cancelled because of heat.
  
• You know where all the Yoders live.
  
• You’ve ridden the school bus for an hour each way.
  
• You’ve ever had to switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.
  
• You think ethanol makes your truck “run a lot better.”
  
• You know what’s knee-high by the Fourth of July.
  
• Stores don’t have bags, they have sacks.
  
• You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.
  
• You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it no matter what time of the year.
  
• You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: “Where’s my coat at?” or “Who are you gonna go with?”
  
• All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, or grain.
  
• De-tassling was your first job (that’s de-tassling corn for you city folk).
  
• Your idea of a really great tenderloin is when the meat is twice as
  big as the bun and accompanied only by ketchup and a dill pickle slice.
  
• You say catty-wumpus and kitty-corner.
  
• You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
  
• You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
  
• When asked how your trip was to any foreign, exotic place, you say, “It was different.”
  
• You consider being called a “Pork Queen” an honor.
  
• You carry jumper cables in your car.
  
• You know what “cow tipping” is.
  

So...what is cow tipping?

lol

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM CANADA WHEN

1. You only know three spices: salt, pepper and ketchup.
2. You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
3. Canadian Tire on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at
Christmas.
4. You've taken your kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard.
5. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled in
with snow.
6.The local paper covers national and international headlines on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.
7. You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
8. You find -40C a little chilly.
9. The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freeze.
12. You attend a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelery and your Sorels.
13. You understand the Labatts Blue commercials.
14. You perk up when you hear the theme from "Hockey Night in Canada"

__________________
Only in Canada
1. Only in Canada......can a pizza get to your house faster than an
ambulance.
2. Only in Canada......are there handicap parking places in front of a
skating rink.
3. Only in Canada......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to
the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can
buy cigarettes at the front.
4. Only in Canada.....do people order double cheese burgers, large
fries, and a diet coke.
5. Only in Canada......do banks leave both doors open and then chain
the pens to the counters.
6. Only in Canada......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the
driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
7. Only in Canada......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we don't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
8. Only in Canada......do we buy hot dogs in packages of twelve and
buns in packages of eight.
9. Only in Canada.....do we use the word 'politics' to describe the
process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning
bloodsucking creatures'.
10. Only in Canada......do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille
lettering.

Carol wrote:

Hey what DOes "knee-high by the Fourth of July." mean? :think:

LOL!! My Dad always jokes and says "Yeah, but whose knees?".

If your corn crop is "knee high by the Fourth of July" it's supposed to mean that you'll have a good yeild. The corn here is already knee high, though. So if all goes well, the harvest should be good for the farmers!

Yeah i think all of the Describe my Hometown lol

JW wrote:

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM CANADA WHEN

8. You find -40C a little chilly.

A little? :faint2: lol

RoseRed wrote:

So...what is cow tipping?

lol

When a cow is sleeping....you sneak up on it and knock it over.

Savannah wrote:

Carol wrote:

Hey what DOes "knee-high by the Fourth of July." mean? :think:

LOL!! My Dad always jokes and says "Yeah, but whose knees?".

If your corn crop is "knee high by the Fourth of July" it's supposed to mean that you'll have a good yeild. The corn here is already knee high, though. So if all goes well, the harvest should be good for the farmers!

I never knew that.:think:

Carol wrote:

JW wrote:

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM CANADA WHEN

8. You find -40C a little chilly.

A little? :faint2: lol

Yup in the Winter it goes up to 50 sometimes then i'm starting to think of my jacket lol

Kalin's fit me better than my own did.

Kalin... those are too funny

Rhonda wrote:

I actually know a few of these, but a lot I haven't a clue..........I only live here, I am NOT from here............I am afraid I need to do the California one..........

You Know You’re From Arkansas When......

Yes, I know... but you've lived there for a while now so you gotta take the heat :shifty:

You Know You're From New York When...

* You think Central Park is "nature."

* You're paying $1,200 for a studio the size of a walk-in closet and you think it's a "steal."

* You've been to New Jersey twice and got hopelessly lost both times.

* You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent.

* You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed.

* You have 27 different menus next to your telephone.

* Going to Brooklyn is considered a "road trip."

* America west of the Hudson is still theoretical to you.

* You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

* You take a taxi to get to your health club to exercise.

* Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

* $50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.

* Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean, your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watch seller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.

* You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that it means Manhattan.

* You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills.

* You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.

* You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.

* Hookers and the homeless are invisible.

* The subway makes sense.

* The subway should never be called anything prissy, like the Metro.

* You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.

* You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price.

* You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple."

* Your door has more than three locks.

* You go to a hockey game for the fighting. In the stands. To participate.

* Your favorite movie has DeNiro in it.

* The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

* You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

* You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard. You complain about having to mow it.

* You are a skee-ball juggernaut.

* You consider Westchester "Upstate."

* You cried the day Mayor Ed Koch took over for Judge Wapner.

* You run when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection.



So true!!!

You know you're from Germany when:

• You think it's you're right to say your opinion. You may also think that others have the same right.
  
• You're familiar with Sesame Street, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck (as a comic character), Wetten, dass..., Die Sendung mit der Maus, Sandmännchen and Biene Maya.
  
• You know how soccer is played. If you're male, you can argue intricate points about its rules. You know what handball is but don't care much about it. If you're under 30, you might know about basketball or even American football, but you don't know how baseball is played, although it somehow reminds you of a game you played for fun in elementary school.
  
• You count on getting three to six weeks of vacation a year, which you probably spend on a Mediterranean beach.
  
• Perhaps you believe in God, perhaps you don't, and perhaps you don't know. You probably don't care much about religious topics. However, if you're from the west you're fairly likely to belong to a church; perhaps because it was still the norm when you were a child, perhaps because in Protestant regions it's a tradition that you get money from relatives at your confirmation.
  
• You think of McDonald's, Burger King etc. as cheap food.
  
• You know what people mean when they complain or make jokes about installing certain Swedish products.
  
• It is also routine to do large or regular payments by simply transferring money from one bank account to another, and you're surprised when you hear that Americans still send checks by mail.
  
• You need to be 18 to get a drivers license. You have to take paid lessons and cannot practice on your own. This makes getting a drivers license very expensive.
  
• On the other hand, you can drink beer legally at 16 (and they usually don't ask for your ID), which is really cool, since your country's beer is of course the best in the world, and your region's beer is of course the best in your country. (For hard stuff, such as whisky or rum, you've got to be 18.)
  
• You don't expect to hear a "right to bear arms" seriously defended (although it's not too difficult to get a gun illegally). And "creationism"? Whatthehellisthat?
  
• Between "black" and "white" there are no other races. Someone with one black and one white parent looks black to you. However, the main question is if someone is German or not. Everyone else is, depending on how politically correct you are, an Ausländer (foreigner) or an ausländischer Mitbürger (foreign fellow citizen).
  
• You think most problems could be solved if only people would put aside their prejudices and work together.
  
• You take a strong court system for granted, even if you don't use it. You know that if you went into business and had problems with a customer, partner, or supplier, you could take them to court.
  
• There's a fair chance that you can speak English, and you probably use quite a few English or English-based words that you've learned from the media, especially from advertising. You probably respect someone who speaks more foreign languages.
  
• You probably think the national flag and the national anthem are something for public buildings, international sport events and travellers abroad; not something to decorate everything in sight. Perhaps you don't even think they are necessary at all.
  
• School and university are free (at least, it's an option, even if you went to private school). There's a poltical debate on whether or not universities should stay free for everyone.
  
• There's no 'college' as opposed to universities (Everyone goes to school for at least 9 years; but to get into the university you need an Abitur, gained with 13 years of schooling.
  
• Mustard comes in jars or tubes. Shaving cream comes in cans. Milk comes in bottles or in cardboard boxes.
  
• The decimal point is a comma. On calculators it's a dot.
  
• A billion is a million times a million. A thousand times a million is a Milliarde.
  
• Unless someone is a child, or you're both not older than (say) mid-twenties, you should know a person for a while to address him with Du, which also usually means that you can call him by his first name. (Otherwise, you address him with Sie).
  
• If you're a woman, you might go to bathing places at lakes topless (especially in the east); perhaps even to the beach. There are special FKK (Freikörperkultur-- 'free body culture') beaches where no one is allowed to wear clothes (to discourage voyeurs).
  
• A hotel room has a private bath.
  
• You seriously expect to be able to transact business, or deal with the government, without paying bribes.
  
• Just about any store will take your credit card, unless you're in a very backward area.
  
• If a company wants to fire an individual employee, it has to give reasons for it and convince the workers' represantative. If it wants to fire masses of people as part of a management strategy there will probably be public protests, but it will probably ignore them.
  
• Labor Day is on the first of May. It's a day when the unions organize demonstrations; in some areas radical left-wingers provoke riots as a kind of sport.
  
• If you're male, you have to spend almost a year in the military (the time usually gets shorter every couple of years), unless you do community service instead or exercise some more exotic options.
  
• You measure things with the metric system, like all sane countries do. The only exception is that a Pfund (pound) is half a kilogram or 500 grams, although there's no such unit in the official metric system.
  
• There are very few regions of your country where you can travel more than 5-10 kilometers without passing a town or village.
  
• You think of Americans as people with a high technical standard who are generally nice but all somehow crazy. They live either in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, or on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and seem to think of themselves as cowboys. However, when politicians or journalists talk about Amerikanische Zustände (America-like situations) on topics like juvenile crime or urban poverty, they usually mean something very bad.
  
• You are not a farmer.
  
• You drive on the right side of the road. You stop at red lights even if nobody's around. If you're a pedestrian and cars are stopped at a red light, you will fearlessly cross the street in front of them.
  
• You consider the Volkswagen Beetle to be between a small and a medium-sized car.
  
• The police are armed, but not with submachine guns.
  
• You think of opera and ballet as rather elite entertainments. It's likely you don't see that many plays, either.
  
• You'd be hard pressed to name the leaders of all the nations of Europe; it's not as difficult with the capitals.
  
• You are familiar with Asterix, Lucky Luke, and perhaps Tim und Struppi (Tintin); you probably aren't familiar with Mafalda, Corto Maltese, Milo Manara, Guido Crepax, Gotlib, or Moebius.
  
• You've left a message at the beep.
  
• Taxis are sometimes operated by foreigners; taxi drivers used to know the city, but it's getting worse now. However, the more common (and sometimes true) stereotype about them is that they're academics who studied the wrong subject.
  
• Changing your name is very difficult. It takes a lot of paperwork, and you need to convince the authorities that you have a good reason to do it.
  
• You know lawyers mainly from American TV series. For that reason you might know the American justice system better than your own.
  

There's a lot of truth in these..