More proof you might be from Chicago if: 1. The "living room" is called the "front room". 2. You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois.

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3 More proof you might be from Chicago if: 1. The "living room" is called the "front room". 2. You don't pronounce the "s" at the end of Illinois. You become irate at people who do. 3. You measure distance in minutes (especially "from the city"). And you swear everything is pretty much 1/2 hour away. 4. You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines." 5. You go to visit friends or family down south and laugh when they complain about the traffic. 6. You understand that no person from Chicago can be a Cub fan AND a White Sox fan at the same time. 7. Its "Kitty corner" not "Katty corner". 8. You know the difference between The Loop and Downtown 9. You eat your pizza in squares, not triangles, and you never refer to it as "pie" 10. You own celery salt 11. You understand that the primary is the official local election. 12. You have drunk green beer on St. Paddy's Day 13. Stores don't have sacks, they have bags. 14. You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. Example: "Where's my coat at?" or "Can I go with?" 15. You heard yourself say: Throw me down the stairs, my keys. 16. Your idea of great sandwich is when the meat is twice as big as the bun, "everything" is on it and a slice of dill pickle is on the side. 17. You carry jumper cables in your car. 18. You drink "pop." 19. You understand that I 290, I 90, I 94, and I 294 are all different roads. 20. You know the names of the interstates: Stevenson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Dan Ryan, and the Edens 21. But you call the interstates "tollways." 22. You refer to anything South of I 80 as "Southern or Central Illinois." 23. You refer to Lake Michigan as "The Lake." 24. You refer to Chicago as "The City" 25. "The Super Bowl" refers to one specific game in January You have two favorite football teams: The Bears, and anyone who beats the Packers. 27. You buy "The Trib" and not the Tribune. 28. You know that despite being on the lake, there is no such place as the Waterfront. 29. You think 45 degrees is great weather to wash your car. 30. You picnic or ride your bike in the "forest preserve" 31. You cried when Bozo was canceled on WGN 32. You know what goes on a Chicago style hot dog. 33. You know what Chicago Style Pizza REALLY is. 34. You know why they call Chicago "The Windy City." 35. You understand what "lake effect" means 36. You have ridden the "L." 37. You know the difference between Amtrak and Metra, and know which station they end up at. 38. You think your next door neighbor is a cousin to Tony Soprano. 39. You can distinguish between the following area codes: 847,630,773,708, 312, & And you remember when all but 815 area codes were You have at some time in your life, used your furniture or a friend's body to guard your parking spot in winter 42. You respond to the question "Where are you from" with a "side." Example: "West Side," "South Side" or "North Side." 43. You know the phone number to Empire Carpet! 44. You know what a garache key is!

4 Riverview Park Knowledge is Proof You Grew up in Chicago Riverview Park knowledge test as proof you grew up in Chicago: You know this was "The Silver Flash", not the "EL", but it definitely wasn t the Bobs either. The day wasn t complete unless you got soaking wet on Chute the Chutes and walked around the park with your clothes sticking to you until they dried. You know where Aladdin's Castle was and you heard about the little girl that was bitten by a black widow spider on the ride but went on it anyway. You know this was not the Greyhound bus station, but in cool circles it was considered the wimps roller coaster and you wouldn t have been seen dead on it if it weren t for the fact that it was the only roller coaster your Mom would ride.

5 You know "The Bobs" was not plural for Bob and you were convinced it traveled at over 1000 mph. You probably rode the Rotor or the Fun House Barrel until you were sick but you did it because your friend said, all the girls dresses fly over their head. By the way, if you had recently had eaten a snow cone you were guaranteed to revisit it all over again. The Merry Go Round was the first thing you saw when you came in the Main Gate but the last thing you wanted your friends to see on. The parachutes were a serious ride. You probably went on it the first time because your friend double dared you or you wanted to impress a girl or boy!

6 You stood in line for tickets for the right to stand in line for the ride. Riverview was pre Theme Park and wasn t exactly a model for spotlessness; but we thought it was exciting adventurous and FUN. We didn t care if it won any Good Housekeeping awards. Riverview Park Date Opened: 1904 Date Closed: 1967 Location: by Western and Belmont Avenues, the Chicago River and Lane Tech High Remains at this site: Nothing!

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19 Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot, Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot. There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me, For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born, Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn. We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn, We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn. We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince, And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since. We danced to 'Little Darlin' and sang to 'Stagger Lee' And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me...Me. Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many, And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney. And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me...Me. We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice, And when they made a movie, they never made it twice. We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three, Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me...Me. Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp, And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

20 We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T, And Oprah couldn't talk, yet, in the Land That Made Me...Me. We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go, At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe. For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be, And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me...Me. We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead, And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led. And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees, Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me...Me. We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars, And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars. And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free, And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me...Me. We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag, And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag. And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea, And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me...Me. Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks, And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks. And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee, And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me...Me. We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill StreetBlues, We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me...Me. There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill, And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill. And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three, And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me...Me. But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say, And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A. They send us invitations to join AARP, We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me...Me. So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans, And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines. And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be, Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me...Me.