- You've ever had to switch from heat to A/C (or vice versa) in the same day.
- You get extremely irritated when you hear people from other states pronounce the "S" at the end of "Illinois."
- Grocery stores have bags, not sacks.
- You drink pop.
- You're convinced that the people who say you speak with an accent are crazy.
- The names Stevenson, Eisenhower, and Kennedy mean more to you than just political figures.
- You refer to Chicago as "the city" and to Lake Michigan as "the lake."
- You measure distance in minutes/hours.
- You go to Indiana for fireworks.
- You think people from Northwest Indiana don't know how to drive.
- You get pissed off at the people from Wisconsin who claim YOU don't know how to drive.
- Your favorite football teams are the Bears and any team that beats the Packers.
- Every year at your neighborhood block party, a brawl breaks out over which baseball team is better.
- You've ever used pieces of furniture (like couches, for example) to save your parking spot in the winter.
- There are no such things as "freeways," only "expressways" and "tollways."
- No cop, no stop.
- The "L" is more than just a letter of the alphabet.
- You know that there really is an East Side of Chicago, and it ain't Lake Michigan!
- You can't tie your shoes, but you know the number for Empire Carpet (and the accompanying song) from memory.
- When you hear the words "North/South Rivalry," you don't think of the Civil War.
- You understand the significance of 708, 312, 773, 630, 847, and 815.
- Everything south of I-80 is considered Southern Illinois.
- You carry jumper cables in your car.
- You know why they REALLY call Chicago "The Windy City."
- You can always spot at least one car running in a store parking lot with no one in it, no matter what time of year.
- You have no problem spelling or pronouncing "Des Plaines."
- Your school classes were ever cancelled because of cold, whether or not there was snow on the ground.
- Your school classes were ever cancelled because of heat.
- You understand what "lake effect" means.
- You know what goes on a Chicago Style hot dog.
- "Deep dish" is the only kind of pizza you will eat.