You know you're a New Orleans native if ...


Lay of the Land

You proudly claim that Monkey Hill is the highest point in Louisiana. John Dunn

You drive your car up onto the neutral ground if it rains steadily and heavily for more than two hours. Avis Sherman

You have flood insurance. H. McDoskey

Someone asks for an address by compass directions and you say it's Uptown, downtown, backatown, riverside or lakeside. Jackie Bettencourt

Your idea of a cruise ship is the Canal Street ferry, and your idea of a foreign cruise ship is the Chalmette ferry. A.C. Tynes

Your burial plot is six feet over rather than six feet under. Lori Mansuy

You know the Irish Channel is not Gaelic-language programming on cable. Al Bostick

You can pronounce `Chop-a-tool-is' but can't spell it. Larry Barattini

You can pronounce and spell Tchoupitoulas. Dana Harrison

You don't worry when you see ships riding higher in the river than your house. C. Gonzalez


Getting Around

You get on a bus marked `Cemeteries' without a second thought. Lori Mansuy

You have no idea what a turn signal is or how to properly use it. M. Matthews

You can cross two lanes of heavy traffic and U-turn through a neutral ground while avoiding two joggers and a streetcar, then fit into the oncoming traffic flow while never touching the brake. Michael Bailey

You can consistently be the second or third person to run a red stop light. Howard Pink

You know how long you have to run to a store, get what you need and get back to your car before you get a parking ticket. Sue Ward

You got rear-ended 10 times by people with no insurance. Debbie Rusk

You take a `right-hand turn' instead of a right turn. Ernie Simoneaux

You get off the stoop, walk down the banquette and cross the neutral ground to go get a sno-ball. S. Weaver


Gourmets and Gourmands

You judge a restaurant by its bread. Barbara Causey

The white stuff on your face is powdered sugar. J. Hopkins

You know better than to drink hurricanes or eat Lucky Dogs. Murray Tate

You visit another city and they `claim' to have Cajun food -- but you know better. Tony Paladino

You have the opening date of any sno-ball stand in your Daytimer. Kate Butler

You know that a po-boy is not a guy who has no money, but a great-tasting French bread sandwich. Charlotte Popovich

The major topics of conversation when you go out to eat are restaurant meals that you have had in the past and restaurant meals that you plan to have in the future. Katherine Young

You judge a po-boy by the number of napkins used. Barbara Causey

You consider having a good meal as your birthright. Lori Mansuy

The four seasons of your year are crawfish, shrimp, crab and erster. Brian Lyons

You love Maspero's, like the prices, hate the line, so you know to sit at the wonderfully old bar to place your order and enjoy. Terry Durel

A seven-course meal is a pizza and a six-pack of Abita beer. M. Bettencourtt

Your stomach can handle a dozen Manuel's tamales at 3 a.m. after having a few at Markey or Saturn Bar. Kevin Ibos

The waitress at your local sandwich shop tells you a fried oyster po-boy dressed is healthier than a Caesar salad. Gina Mikelonis

You know the definition of `dressed.' Shirley T. Fayard

Your 3-year-old child comes home singing his latest nursery rhyme: `Alligator pie, alligator pie, If I don't get some, I think I'm gonna cry. Give away the green grass, give away the sky, But don't give away my alligator pie.' Amy Smith

You put Tabasco sauce on your Hershey bar. Janet Reed

You can eat Popeyes original chicken, Haydel's kingcake and Zapp's while waiting for Zulu. Then you go to Jackson Square for a Central Grocery muffaletta with a Barq's while sucking hot crawdads and cold Acme oysters, hurricanes and several Abitas. Then you can ride the St. Charles Avenue streetcar home past Camellia Grill for a chili/cheese omelette ... without losing it all on your front stoop. Dan C. Frisard

You have gained 10 or 15 pounds permanently, but you don't care anymore. Aubrey

Ya stood yaselfs in da line by Galatoire's. Zide B. Jahncke

You think `drinking water' when you look at the Mississippi River. C. Gonzalez


Mudbug Fun

Someone at a crawfish boil says, `Don't eat the dead ones,' and you know what they mean. Robert Kemp

You don't really teach people the right way to eat crawfish, so there's more for you. Jodie Brady

Your idea of cutting back on calories is to suck the heads and not eat the tails. LaJuana Chenier

The smell of a crawfish boil turns you on more than Chanel No. 5. Don LeMonier

You enjoy sucking heads more than sucking face. Debbie Montreuil

Your idea of foreplay is pinching dem tails and sucking dem heads and chasing it down with a cold Abita beer. Deborah Goldman


Yattitudes

You burl (boil) crawfish and fry them in erl (oil). Don't forget to pack the uneaten tails in furl (foil). Debra Winbush

The first thing you do every morning is pick up The Times-Picayune obit section to see `who died inna papah?' Mimi Tremoulet

Ya making groceries at Schwegmann's with ya mama to buy Dixie beer and crawfish so you can eat and suck heads in the French Quarter before a Mardi Gras parade. Charlotte Blanchek

You know your homonyms, synonyms and your `mom-n-ems.' Bridget Robinson

There is a St. Joseph lucky bean in ya mama's coin purse. Bev Chapoton

When you speak with a tourist, he asks, `Are you from Brooklyn?' Harold Gallagher

You make groceries at Schwegmann's to get da Zatarains for da crawfish. Den, ya suck da heads of those crawfish for da juice. Don't forget da beer and da white Russian daiquiris. Afterwards, you go down to Randazzo's for some king cake. While in da parish, you stop at Rocky's for some baked macaroni to take home. On Mondays, you get da begneits, coffee and da Gambit. (Dat Gambit has everything.) For lunch, you go down to Mother's for some red beans and rice. Tomorrow, you get da muffaletta at da Central Grocery. And dat's what we do in N'awlins, dawlin'. Kerry Reuber

You're not afraid when someone wants to `ax' you. Lori Mansuy

You were born at Baptist, raised in Metry and hang with Vic and Nat'ly. Chip Perry

You go by ya mom-n-ems on Good Friday to eat crawfish, drink beers and play touch football on the neutral ground. Joy Scott


Carnival Time

You don't learn until high school that Mardi Gras is not a national holiday. John Silbernagel

You push little old ladies out of the way to catch Mardi Gras throws. Howard Pink

You leave a parade with footprints on your hands. Sandra Gainey

You believe that purple, green and gold look good together -- and you will even eat things those colors. Yvar Torealba

Every time you hear sirens you think it's a Mardi Gras parade. Monica Giles

On Christmas Eve, your daughter looks up in the sky, sees Santa Claus and yells, `Throw me somethin' mister.' Kelley Williams

You fill your Nativity creche with king cake babies dressed like Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men and the angels. Ann Case

You go buy a new winter coat and throw your arms up in the air to make sure it allows enough room to catch Mardi Gras beads. Rebecca C. Este

You have a parade ladder in your shed. Bev Chapoton

Your finest china has Endymion written on it. Lori Mansuy

Your first sentence was, `Throw me something mistah,' and your first drink was from a go-cup. Linda McNamara

You wonder what Anne Rice has against a building that looks like a Mardi Gras float. Howard Wetsman


Crescent City Classics

You still write `NOPSI' on your utility bill. Alan Huard

You know the color purple is a drugstore and not a movie. Al Bostick

You have a special set of well-broken-in shoes you refer to as your `French Quarter' shoes. Kate Butler

You still call the convenience store `Timesaver.' Jamie Lobell

You move somewhere else and you feel like you are from Oz and you moved to Kansas. Lisa Gourgues

Everywhere else just seems like Cleveland. Mike O'Connell

You know the lyrics to the jingles for Seafood City, Pontchartrain Beach and Rosenberg's. Alan Huard

Every so often, you have waterfront property. Lori Mansuy

Your last name isn't pronounced the way it's spelled. Bettina Benoit

You believe Al and Anne are the Uptown version of Vic & Nat'ly. E. Lindsey

You can remove the cap from a Tabasco bottle with one hand. Susie Kehoe

You know what a nutria is but you still pick it to represent your baseball team. Liz Ducote

You know where you got your shoes. David Nusloch

You have spent a summer afternoon on the Lake Pontchartrain seawall catching blue crabs. Vernon Coy

You play hopscotch on the `bankit.' Robert Fuxan

You ask someone where they went to school and they tell you which high school they attended. Shannon Prince

You remember waiting up and staying awake for complete TV coverage of the meeting of the Comus and Rex courts. John Guignard

You watch a movie filmed in New Orleans and say things like, `Dere ain't no way they can run out of a cemetery right on to Bourbon Street ... and don't call me "Cher."' Mary K. Maunoir

You haven't been to Bourbon Street in years. Jolie Clark

You bring empty grocery bags to a parade. Lori Mansuy

That brown bag you take to the Saints game ain't your lunch. Barbara Polikoff

You know that `Tipitina' is not a gratuity for a waitress named Tina. Lawrence Fletcher

You have to buy a new house because you ran out of wall space for Jazz Fest posters. Bruce Michel

You drink Dixie, whistle Dixie and name your dog Dixie. Jeff Hartzheim

You describe a color as K&B purple. Terry Brewster

You like your rice and politics dirty and dislike clean living. Amos Fogleman

You still hope Angela and Garland get back together. Kate Butler

You worry about deceased family members returning in spring floods. C. Gonzalez

You're sitting on the Lakefront reading the Gambit, eating hot crawfish and drinking Abita beer. Michael Tebble

You can ask for lagniappe and not feel guilty. Merlin L. Taylor

You reply to anything and everything about life here with, `Only in New Orleans.' Toni Tournillon

You really were in Tulane Stadium during the Saints first game when John Gilliam ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. Vernon Coy

Party on, Earl

You're out of town and you stop and ask someone where there's a drive-thru daiquiri place (then they look at you like you have three heads). Kate Butler

Someone mentions the Democratic party and you ask, `Where, what time and is it B.Y.O.L.?' Ralph Grimaldi

You consider a Bloody Mary a light breakfast. Kate Butler

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor hail will keep you from the Jazz Fest. Charlotte Popovich

You go to sleep Friday evening before you go out Friday night. H.L. Tubre

You have a monogrammed go-cup. Marlow McGraw


First-Class Ass Kissers

You can't have a party without New Orleans Original Daiquiris. Michael Verges

You use your Gambit as your social calendar. Mary LeBlanc

You love Feelings because the food, drinks and service are great, and the atmosphere of the quaint courtyard and the friendly neighborhood piano bar make for a wonderful night. Sharon Irby

A friend gets in trouble for roaches in his car and you wonder if it was palmettos or those little ones that go after the French fries that fell under the seat. Pam Butler

You eat the poo veins. Mike Tebbe

You like your crawfish so hot, you can't distinguish between sweat, snot and crawfish juice. Michael Turre

Your 'do is high enough to catch stray crawfish juice and able to stand 100 percent humidity and temperatures above 90 degrees. Vanessa Breaux

Your butt burns when you go to the bathroom. Kenny Marino