Weird Side Effects From Growing Up In Detroit

[EastsideAl]

Whenever there's a day of mixed weather, I always think about how the words go together: "cloudy and foggy, cloggy kind of weather!"

[Wheels]

White tooth and black fang doesn't mean good or bad hygiene.

[Wheels]

Warm Vernors is considered medicine.

[Meddle]

1, 7 and 8 maybe. The rest, not so much.

There is one that comes to mind though that I have never heard in regards to other areas. 'Jumping on [[or in) the Ditch' to get some where. I can't think of any other place that commonly referred to freeways as the Ditch.

[Meddle]

Whenever there's a day of mixed weather, I always think about how the words go together: "cloudy and foggy, cloggy kind of weather!"

Sorry, but Detroit and weather automatically brings up things like Eng-a-deng-deng-a-dine' and 'right about [[squeakkkk) THERE'.

[313WX]

Another one occurred to me today.

For people here, it's perfectly normal to walk or bicycle [[without bike lanes) down the middle of the street

[kathy2trips]

Home ownership was, and maybe still is, a sacred rite in these parts. Mortgage burning parties were joyous occasions. Don't forget that Frank J. Hecker more or less made it possible for working and middle-class people to buy homes....unheard of at the time. It was here in Detroit that he organized The Union Trust, one of the first major banks to offer the average worker the opportunity to purchase a home. They offered conventional mortgages or newly developed [[1890s) land contracts. Before that, you had to save the entire amount and then buy the house....can you imagine that? Now you know why so many Detroit-area people just aren't the "loft" kind of folk. It's something New York-based developers just can't understand. Make sure you give the old boy a nod of respect whenever you pass his house.

[joie]

couple more:
- having Canada to the south, at least Windsor from Detroit
- being able to take a bridge or tunnel to a foreign country
- Vernor's with milk - they even used to sell it that way @ the factory on Woodward
- knowing what a "frozen Lindy" is [[Kool-aid frozen in a Dixie cup for about $.02 a shot when I was a kid)
- being able to properly pronounce streets like Gratiot, Campau, etc. without stumbling and chuckling @ national media who get them wrong.
- Paczki Day!
- the Freedom Festival on the river front, sharing national celebrations between 2 countries.
- having two small towns within the city limits.
- knowing who Milky the Clown was and the "magic words"

[SammyS]

Home ownership was, and maybe still is, a sacred rite in these parts. Mortgage burning parties were joyous occasions. Don't forget that Frank J. Hecker more or less made it possible for working and middle-class people to buy homes....unheard of at the time. It was here in Detroit that he organized The Union Trust, one of the first major banks to offer the average worker the opportunity to purchase a home. They offered conventional mortgages or newly developed [[1890s) land contracts. Before that, you had to save the entire amount and then buy the house....can you imagine that? Now you know why so many Detroit-area people just aren't the "loft" kind of folk. It's something New York-based developers just can't understand. Make sure you give the old boy a nod of respect whenever you pass his house.

Kathy,
always appreciate your comments.
Do you think this trend is finally coming in line with other larger cities and one which may be influenced by peoples desire for proximity to walkable/bike-able destinations? From my experience, and I have lived and visited many large cities around the world, the term "desirable location" is typically gauged by it's vicinity to the city center. A loft, apartment or townhouse in and around the immediate city center may just be where the next generation of home owners/renters choose to reside. Just a thought.

PS. I was always under the impression that the Colonel Hecker House was relocated to its current location. Not the case.

[Lombaowski]

For some reason, despite my education level, I still say "to matter what" rather than no matter what. Maybe that is extremely localized vernacular, but my family and friends always said this.

Still say Pop even though I've lived outside of Detroit longer than I've lived in it.

I crave Rock&Rye and pickled eggs sometimes, and always love finding those items.

I always replace South with West when Don't stop Believing comes on.

Agree strongly with these OP items:

5. The uncanny ability to select a perfect layered [winter] outfit.
6. An insatiable appetite for coney dogs.
7. An unshakeable preference for square pizza.
8. The urge to dance to every Motown song ever written.
9. A sense of pride for being "almost Canadian."

One last one is really knowing what sitting in the bleachers is like. Tiger Stadium had the most raucous bleachers ever and when we skipped school, that is where we sat. The first naked boobs I ever saw were in the bleachers at the old park, there just isn't anything left in professional sports like that. I mean we were literally caged in! So awesome.

[Lombaowski]

Weird Side Effects From Growing Up In Detroit


Constantly looking over your shoulder even when in low crime areas.
Hiding everything out of view when exiting your vehicle.
Not making eye contact when passing others on the street.

That's every big city in America, HTH

[Hermod]

Every time I hear an ice cream truck blasting "Pop Goes The Weasal", I get an irresistible urge to run out into the street while wrestling a buck or two from my blue jeans pocket, screaming, "wait! wait! stop! stop!"

Used to be a dime.