15 sure signs you're from the city
Cities are booming, almost life-like entities that have a heartbeat of their own. They're not for everyone, as some people can't handle the daily hustle and bustle. But some people didn't choose the city life; the city life chose them. Though millennials are flocking to the hippiest cities in every state to get jobs, others were born and bred among the concrete. And people from the city are a little different. Don't believe us? Well, then you need to read these sure signs you (or someone you know) learned to crawl among the urban sprawl.
DreamstimeEvery distance is walkable
Walking two miles is nothing compared to the cost of parking or the slow crawl of traffic. Your friends may want to drive or call for an Uber, but you know you can rely on your feet for more reliable and cost-effective travel. Whether the roundtrip is one, two, or four miles, it's always a piece of cake for you.
DreamstimeMost foods are considered on-the-go, even if they're not
Some people may want to sit down and savor their food, but you know it tastes the same whether you're standing up and walking or sitting down. When you've got places to be, you can make just about anything portable. Eating lasagna while running to the subway is just as easy as eating a banana. You know, because you've done it.
DreamstimeYou're a master of public transportation
The crayon box of colors that represent different trains and destinations on a city's transit map may seem intimidating to newcomers, but you've got these routes memorized like the back of your hand. You've been taking them since you were literally coloring with crayons, after all.
DreamstimeYou wear headphones so people won't bother you
Headphones are your best way to tell people you're not interested in conversation, especially at 8 in the morning. Even if you're not listening to anything, they still work just as well. You learned this trick early in life and use it during every commute as an adult.
DreamstimeYou hardly ever interact with your neighbors
You've never even seen your neighbots. In fact, the only reason you know they exist at all is because you hear them doing an activity that sounds an awful lot like bowling at all hours of the night. Seriously, what are they doing next door? Throwing desks against the wall?
DreamstimeYou make the most of small spaces
Your bedroom as a kid was what a suburbanite might call a closet. As an adult, you see a studio apartment as a welcome challenge. When half of your paycheck is going to rent in the city, you have to figure out how to make the most of the space you've got. Laptops instead of desktops, futons instead of beds, storage that fits under or in things as opposed to a dresser. You know the drill.
DreamstimeYou don't use your driver's license
If you have a driver's license at all, you tend to use yours more for proof of your age than for proof of whether you can drive legally. You might take it out for the bar or a concert, but "license and registration" is a foreign phrase to you.
DreamstimeYou have no fear of jaywalking
Crosswalks are just a suggestion when the city is filled with bumper to bumper traffic. Waiting for the little striding-human pictogram to light up just takes too long, and you're not down for that.
iStockphoto.comSlow walkers infuriate you
You grew up walking everywhere, and you're fast at it. So you don't have time to wait for people waddling through the city and its many tourist attractions. You've got places to be, and people who saunter through the city at the pace of the slowest turtle aren't helpful. You rush past them as quickly as possible and hope they take the hint so that others don't suffer the same fate.
DreamstimeYou don't know what fresh air is
On the rare occasion you actually leave the city, it's shocking how refreshing it actually is. Smog and other signs of pollution are the norm for you, and escaping that can be strange.
DreamstimeEverything you know, you learned at museums
Cities have museums for art, science, history and more. You've been to them all on every field trip. You learned about dinosaur bones, America's presidents and how to build a dam by seeing all of these things up close.
DreamstimeYou can handle the worst weather
Cities get shut down for snowstorms and hurricanes. Warnings go out in extreme heat to make sure everyone is well-hydrated and keeping cool. You know those hazards are overexaggerations. You need milk, and you're going to go through a literal blizzard to get it.
DreamstimeCoffee is essential and expensive
Coffee doesn't come cheap, but it's one of the bare necessities. Imagining the morning or evening commute without it isn't something you're willing to do. Paying upwards of $5 a cup is something we've just come to accept as mandatory. You've been doing it for decades, after all.
Getty ImagesFilthy streets don't phase you
City streets can be absolutely disgusting between the discarded trash and the insufficiently frequent cleanings. Rats and mice are abundant - they might even be cute to you at this point. Seeing a tumbleweed of McDonald's wrappers and newspapers drift by in the city breeze doesn't even register to you as something of note.
DreamstimeYou can sleep through just about anything
Between the police sirens and the trash trucks, sleeping in the city requires being able to sleep like a rock under any circumstances. Even if there's a bar or a party nearby, you're downright serene. Suburbanites might cringe at the thought of falling asleep to the noise of city trains, but you feel right at home. And home to you is one of the biggest cities in America.
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