How to spot a Phoenix Native (living, moving, oil)

[Arizona Mike]

57-year Phoenix native here.

Some things that stick out about long-timers:

- Rhapsodize about the great way swamp coolers made your home smell.

- Remember drinking from the run-off hoses as a kid.

- Remember finding those weird little crawdads in your yard when they did the old-style irrigation that flooded your lawn.

- Bought at least one item of clothing and one firearm from Yellow Front.

- Not only remember and enjoyed Legend City, will talk at length about how the "older" Legend City attractions were better than the "newer" Legend City rides.

- Pronounce "sieve" as "seev" rather than "siv", and tend to pronounce "iron" as "I-ron" rather than "I'urn." I don't know why, but I've noticed this in people who lived here a long time.

- Don't want to hear from Californians and Easterners about how things were better where they fled from and how things should be like that here.

[AZ Manager]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

They think the traffic is terrible.

They think it smells good outside after it rains.

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

Natives seem to be better prepared for the summertime heat and monsoon season.

They park their cars in as much shade as possible and use potholders to open the doors and operate the steering wheel.

Natives use poolcovers in July when the first monsoon storm hits to prevent dirt, leaves, and other debris from ruining their pools.

They go on and on about how much better Phoenix used to be when it was a smaller city and they like to blame transplants for making it too big, dirty, and congested.

Originally Posted by Arizona Mike

57-year Phoenix native here.

Some things that stick out about long-timers:

- Rhapsodize about the great way swamp coolers made your home smell.

- Remember drinking from the run-off hoses as a kid.

- Remember finding those weird little crawdads in your yard when they did the old-style irrigation that flooded your lawn.

- Bought at least one item of clothing and one firearm from Yellow Front.

- Not only remember and enjoyed Legend City, will talk at length about how the "older" Legend City attractions were better than the "newer" Legend City rides.

- Pronounce "sieve" as "seev" rather than "siv", and tend to pronounce "iron" as "I-ron" rather than "I'urn." I don't know why, but I've noticed this in people who lived here a long time.

- Don't want to hear from Californians and Easterners about how things were better where they fled from and how things should be like that here.

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

- Consider 70 degrees "cold"
- For Caucasians you can tell by their unnaturally tanned complexions
- Those under 30 are likely to have at least one visible tattoo
- Go on about how they love the rain and rainy days (it's a fairly rare occurrence here, after all)
- Have never seen falling snow
- Have a "Not Cal" or "AZ Native" sticker on their car or (likely lifted) truck
- Went to a Jimmy Eat World or Gin Blossoms show "before they were big"
- Don't own a winter coat or pair of gloves
- Have a flip flops to close toed shoe ratio of at least 2:1

31 year old born and raised in Phoenix and never lived anywhere else and never will, it is perfect here why would I want to. I put the ones I can agree with in bold, I will admit I don't own a single pair of flips and never have. I don't have a tan because I don't go out in summer time and being raised here we were taught how dangerous the sun can be on skin. The potholder thing is not a native thing but a transplant thing as a little burning doesn't bother us natives after decades of being here. And who doesn't like the smell of wet dirt after a good rain?

[ElleTea]

Natives say things like "Oh no! It's 75 in January! It's too soon! I hope this doesn't mean that it will be a superhot summer!" as if the temp in January will just continue to go up and up and up until it is 1000 degrees in June.


That "wet dirt" smell here is not pleasant. It is actually more like "wet dust". For those natives who have never been anywhere else, a nice soaking spring rain smells amazing in non desert areas. It is a smell of earth and grass and foliage...you want to hang your laundry out after to soak up that fresh, clean scent, and open your windows and let it in. It's far better than moldy, sour smell the desert has after a sprinkle. They make candles called "spring rain", not "wet desert", for a reason.

[PhoenixSomeday]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

... For those natives who have never been anywhere else, a nice soaking spring rain smells amazing in non desert areas. ...

It smells fresh after it rains. Here, it kind of smells fresh, but yeah, it smells like there's some wet dirt/dust in with that fresh smell. It's kind of weird, but in the almost two years I've been here, I'm kind of getting used to it.

But it still won't beat that fresh, crisp, smell you get after it rains back home.

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

Natives say things like "Oh no! It's 75 in January! It's too soon! I hope this doesn't mean that it will be a superhot summer!" as if the temp in January will just continue to go up and up and up until it is 1000 degrees in June.

Real natives don't ever say that. We've seen so many desert summers and our bodies have grown accustomed to it. I like the hot summers, it keeps more people from moving here with their high-pants easterner foreign ways. As kids, we didn't even wear shoes on the hot asphalt and built up heat-calluses. Heat makes you tough in a way other things can't.

Last summer I was standing outside on a torrid day and marveling that I could feel the radiant heat from a star that was 93 million miles away ripping across my body. Glorious!

As Frank Herbert said in "Dune", God created the desert to train the faithful.

That "wet dirt" smell here is not pleasant. It is actually more like "wet dust". For those natives who have never been anywhere else, a nice soaking spring rain smells amazing in non desert areas. It is a smell of earth and grass and foliage...you want to hang your laundry out after to soak up that fresh, clean scent, and open your windows and let it in. It's far better than moldy, sour smell the desert has after a sprinkle. They make candles called "spring rain", not "wet desert", for a reason.

I've lived here most of my life, but have smelt rainfall all over the world. I've smelled it back east, in L.A., in Hungary, in Prague, in France, in Turkey, It smells better here than elsewhere, IMO.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Arizona Mike

Real natives don't ever say that. We've seen so many desert summers and our bodies have grown accustomed to it. I like the hot summers, it keeps more people from moving here with their high-pants easterner foreign ways. As kids, we didn't even wear shoes on the hot asphalt and built up heat-calluses. Heat makes you tough in a way other things can't.

Last summer I was standing outside on a torrid day and marveling that I could feel the radiant heat from a star that was 93 million miles away ripping across my body. Glorious!

As Frank Herbert said in "Dune", God created the desert to train the faithful.



.

On every weather related Facebook post by any Phoenix news media you see these comments. Over and over. And over.

[azriverfan.]

We missed one of the most obvious ones. The natives don't know how to drive in rain and slow down as if they are driving on ice. It's really comical. That is one of the easy ways to distinguish the natives from transplants. Here is a typical scenario. It's summer time, it's slightly overcast with a little sunshine. Suddenly, it starts to rain and the native driver in front of me slams their brakes and drops their speed from 65 mph to 50 instantly on the I-10. That is such a Native move. Sorry natives but you guys don't know how to drive in rain LOL

Living in Florida, it's the opposite. People will drive 75 and it rains, and they still drive at the same speeds LOL despite the rain being more aggressive and the roads being more wet. The difference is they are used to it and are not afraid of it.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

We missed one of the most obvious ones. The natives don't know how to drive in rain and slow down as if they are driving on ice. It's really comical. That is one of the easy ways to distinguish the natives from transplants. Here is a typical scenario. It's summer time, it's slightly overcast with a little sunshine. Suddenly, it starts to rain and the native driver in front of me slams their brakes and drops their speed from 65 mph to 50 instantly on the I-10. That is such a Native move. Sorry natives but you guys don't know how to drive in rain LOL

Living in Florida, it's the opposite. People will drive 75 and it rains, and they still drive at the same speeds LOL despite the rain being more aggressive and the roads being more wet. The difference is they are used to it and are not afraid of it.

I wouldn't think this is a "Native" thing to do...since there are way more Transplants than "Natives" and I see this happening all over the place...my logical assumption would be that this is just people who are scared of driving over-reacting to a change in driving conditions. Kind of like that thread where someone was terrified to drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix on the 17...

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

On every weather related Facebook post by any Phoenix news media you see these comments. Over and over. And over.

Real Arizonan natives never post on Facebook, either.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Arizona Mike

Real Arizonan natives never post on Facebook, either.

Interesting how many real natives I have as FB friends!