-You recognize that black shopping bags are from bodegas, farmacias, or dollar stores.
-You scoff at the prices of bootleg dvds in midtown, because you know how cheap they are in Chinatown.
-You can no longer distinguish among different models of cars. Instead, you lump them into the transportation category “not my legs or the train.”
-You call the subway “the train.”
-You hang a shopping bag from your doorknob and call it a trashcan.
-You never run to catch the S shuttle from Grand Central Station to Times Square.
-Hundreds of people bumping and writhing against each other reminds you of your morning commute to work, not a mosh pit or nightclub.
-You could not live without an ipod.
-You can doze off on the train, and wake up at exactly the right stop.
-You can name five places to get pizza in your neighborhood.
-You always drink soda through a straw.
-You have pushed and pulled a heavy cart of groceries or laundry at least three blocks away from where you live.
-You see a person sitting butt-ass naked on the sidewalk and the first thing you think is, “She must be cold.”
-You walk up more than five flights of stairs a day.
-You have the option of getting your laundry or groceries done and delivered by a stranger who doesn’t speak your language.
-You regularly pay $1 or more for a can of soda.
-In a day, you can walk the length of a marathon in heels…and do it again the next day, too.
-You have worn Nikes with a pencil skirt and stockings.
-You find youself saying “stockings” instead of “pantyhose.”
-When you go into a fast food restaurant, the cashier asks, “To stay or to go?”
-People at the post office, stores, etc. expect customers to wait “on line” instead of “in line.” (This still baffles me, as there is no physical line on which to wait).
-You know people from New Jersey are inherently weird and people from Connecticut are inherently white.
-Though you grew up in Texas, you now use the word “schlepped.”
I’m Amanda. I’ve got wide eyes, a smart mouth, and a MetroCard. And I’m not afraid to use them.
I wrote this. You didn't.