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Maybe others have noticed these things. Please don't think they are complaints because I have to laugh about these things myself. They are just differences I noticed.
l. I have honestly not seen full service gas stations in FOREVER (maybe when I was a kid?). There are a ton of gas stations (whose price widely fluctuates from one block to another) and a lot of them pump the gas.
2. Part of #1. I have never ever pumped gas where there were different prices for cash vs credit. Glad I noticed before I was here any longer.
3. That big rat I saw in two places on LongIsland is NOT someone's mascot. Seriously.. It is not. I thought it was like Chick fil-a's cow. (and yes, I have to laugh about that now...)
4. LongIsland is crazy about tipping (compared to other places)... At times it almost seems built into jobs.
5. Stop signs are everywhere. It seems like they are on every other street. In my last town, they had roundabouts (which can be very confusing for visitors). Here they have stop signs.. It will make it easier to give directions to people (instead of saying when you get to the third roundabout in the subdivision go to...) All the stop signs may also help all the gas stations mentioned in number 1.
6. Small talk can be viewed as a sign of hearing loss. If someone answers you, just say ok. Don't small talk or people may repeat information louder. I went to the dmv Monday. The guard said the system was down. The appropriate response would have been ok. Instead I said, "Oh darn. My license expires in a few days." Someone who had walked in right before me turned around and said (in a louder voice), "The system is down!" I said I know.. I was just hoping it might be up before my license expires. Then a second person turns around to help translate (in case I am thick or experiencing hearing loss), "The system is down! That means there isn't anything that can be done today!" Umm ok.. I got the picture. I just thanked God I wasn't the poor security guard who had to pass on the good news to those going to the dmv that day.
7. Never think you recognize someone's voice. I just called a company, and I thought I was talking to the same person in the last phone call until I got half way through my message. I thought the first person had an accent, and I recognized the accent.... Umm It dawned on me it is a New York accent that I hear from some people. It is funny because some have the accent and others don't, and yet most people I meet grew up here.
8. If you go into a diner and your three year old raves about the pancakes, and you love the gyro, don't gush about the place and ask for their business card so that you can remember the diner and find it again. I did that on the house hunting trip. We returned several times. I can only imagine what the restaurant thought when they gave me the card. Clearly, there are plenty of diners here selling pancakes and gyros, and I probably passed half a dozen getting to that one.
9. There are not a lot of transplants (which I think speaks positively for the area). That is why everyone asks why you moved here, and why as soon as you say the area code on your cell phone they automatically say, "516?" assuming you are giving the first three digits instead of the area code.
10. A group of people with cardboard signs does not automatically mean there is a car wash. I was confused.... I am guessing they were protesting something. Here I drive with both hands on the wheels and the eyes on the road (yeah.. now everyone is going to recognize me), so I couldn't really read the signs, but there were no kids, no hose, and no wet cars.
on to the rest of my life as a Long Islander
Last edited by SCtoLongIsland; 07-31-2013 at 02:48 PM..
the town of Huntington requires gas to be pumped by the attendant. Also since we are an island we have water rats here. Probably the big rat that you saw.
the town of Huntington requires gas to be pumped by the attendant. Also since we are an island we have water rats here. Probably the big rat that you saw.
I think the "rat" the OP was referring to was one of the giant blow up rats that unions use to shame a business.
The area code thing isn't automatic. Many people commute to the city and their cell phone has a 917 or 646 area code. Or 347 or 929. Or 718. Or 631...
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