You're So Memphis If...

You're So Memphis If...

Earlier today, I asked you guys to complete the sentence "You're so Memphis if...". You did, and it turns out, there are a ton of things that bind us together as a city that transcend geographic area.

Downtown Memphis, Tenn.

Here are the collected responses. If you've got more, list them in the comments and I'll add them to the post.

Food:

- You criticize every non-Memphis barbecue joint, regardless of how good it is. (submitted by @JDPeery)

- When you smell like barbecue smoke. (submitted by Kevin M.)

- The phrase "gas station sushi" makes you hungry instead of disgusted. (submitted by @thatswanlady)

- You serve eight kinds of vegetable at Thanksgiving dinner and not a single one is vegetarian. (submitted by @HitsyBitsy)

- Spaghetti isn't a full meal. It's a side item served with chicken or catfish.

- Mac'n'cheese is a vegetable.

- You own a full set of 12 Central Barbecue (or Young Ave. Deli) cups. Bonus points if you bring them out at dinner parties.

 

Driving and Navigation:

- You know the difference between E. Parkway S. and S. Parkway E. (submitted by Doug)

- You drive down one road and it changes names more than two times. (submitted by @JohnnySteph)

- You can explain how the city is mapped out. (submitted by Andrea O.)

- You believe that every lane is the turn lane. (submitted by John L.)

- You get disoriented in other cities cause they don't have the Mississippi river to give you a sense of direction. (submitted by Lisa M.)

- You have no idea what the bridges' proper names are because you've always called them "old bridge" and "new bridge".

- You get on the interstate and are either run into by someone going 40 mph or run over by someone going 90 mph. (submitted by Karen S.)

- Your metro area spans three states and you don't feel like you belong in any of them. (submitted by Charlie)

- You never use your car horn, no matter how bad someone else's driving is. (submitted by Dave)

 

Weather:

Winter, Memphis, Tenn.

- When you're 1500 miles away and you still use "Dave Brown" as shorthand for "the weatherman". (submitted by Candace C.)

- You start listening to school closings on the news the night before it snows.

- You wake up to snow in November and think "wait, it's not March yet." (submitted by @shannonrlittle)

- You know we only have three seasons: hot, raining and basketball.

- You think taking a stand is refusing to turn on your air conditioner in March, no matter how hot it is.

 

Politics:

- You know that the Ford dynasty is not a new model of American car. (submitted by @HistyBitsy)

- You hear "AC" and don't think "air conditioning". (submitted by @hstovallmemphis)

- You thought that there was only one mayor of Memphis because for most of your life, that was the case.

 

Sports:

FedExForum, Memphis, Tenn.

- You know that Tiger Nation is our nation, not theirs. (submitted by @bdvanderheyden)

- The pep band knows "Knuck if You Buck" and "Stuntin' Like My Daddy".

- You pull for Tiger Basketball and any SEC football team. (from @Kevinandsuji)

- You have no idea what the words to "I'm So Glad I Go to the U of M" are, but you sing along anyway. Bonus points if you didn't actually go to the U of M.

- You thought our first pro sports franchise was Saturday morning wrestling. (submitted by @kevinandsuji)

- You get excited about Tiger basketball billboards. (submitted by Andrea O.)

- You schedule your life around Tiger basketball. (submitted by Kaitlyn P.)

- You know that T.O.M. is not a name, but an acronym. (submitted by Rachel)

 

And in general:

- You meet someone from Memphis and the first question you ask is "Where did you go to high school?" (submitted by @The_RDJ)

- You still say "Memphis State". (submitted by Gil L.)

- You have more street cred than someone from Detroit. (submitted by Trisha G.)

- You couldn't think of anything to say after being asked to keep it clean. (submitted by Nathan P.)

- You have exceedingly low standards for what makes a neighborhood "sketchy". (submitted by @lbillingz)

- You've lived here your whole life and have never seen Graceland in person. (submitted by @clay1278)

- You can finish this sentence: "Get the dope out your veins..." (submitted by @kevinandsuji)

- You hear the number "201" in any context and cringe. (submitted by @vincentcakes)

- You run into the mayor, your high school best friend, your ex-boyfriend and your congressional representative in one grocery store trip.

- You ever tried to scare your friends by taking them to Voodoo Village. (submitted by Richard F.)

- Getting an email from Prince Mongo makes your month.

- You ever got out of school for Fair Day.

- If you ever ice skated at the Mall of Memphis. (submitted by Jenny M.)

- When you answer "How you doin?" with "How you doin'?". (submitted by Christy T.)

- When you get offended by any cover charge over $5. (submitted by Marjorie C.)

- If you read this blog. (submitted by Joel)

- You know that somewhere in Tom Lee Park is that flip flop you lost at Music Fest. (submitted by Rachel)

- If you ever blew off high school prom to go to Music Fest.

- If you say "might could" or "might should".

- If you've ever called JAM-JAM1. Bonus points if you referred to the time zone in Memphis as "Capt. D's Time."

 

 

Comments Make Us Happy

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Helen
If you ever swan in the Gulf of Mexico on Mud Island. A.k.a. Bud Boogie Beach. Good times! Bring it back!!!
June 20, 2014 10:53am
debra
You had season passed to Libertyland.
June 20, 2014 7:38pm
debra
Called J C Leevie (sp) for the joke of the day.
June 20, 2014 7:42pm
LShive
I'm so Memphis that Elvis held me once when I was a baby, because of my name, Lisa Marie. 
July 22, 2014 2:54pm
Regina Weiner
You spent half your weekends waiting for your bus connection at Main and Madison. You remember the Sanitation picketers, and the National Guard a few weeks later.
July 24, 2014 2:10pm
ELLE
I'm so Memphis I'm trying to leave like a lot of other Memphians.
August 6, 2014 10:40am
Melissa White
You love to see Greg's Guys doin it.
August 14, 2014 7:05pm
Pat Edwards
If you were ttbn--taught to be nice.  
December 17, 2014 12:17pm
Michael Mitchell
You are so Memphis, When someone ask you what time you have: and then it's gone
December 22, 2014 10:11am
Michael Mitchell
You so MEMPHIS, When you think Hawii Island is out of state. 
December 22, 2014 10:13am
Michael Mitchell
You all are so MEMPHIS, When you remember John The Gun
December 22, 2014 10:14am
Michael Mitchell
Holly, Nice Article, I been gone for over thirty years and everyday I thinlk of Memphis and what it have to offer. I shall return!
December 22, 2014 10:18am
john milligan
your so from Memphis that in a letter you refer to Mph. instead of Memphis  
January 11, 2015 11:41am
MemphisBusiness2015
Memphis real estate developer sources have confimred that last week principal investors from a new golf simulation and entertatinment venue, Sky Box, is looking to build a location near Downtown. No parcels of land have been identified yet, but the buzz for this project is already taking off in Oklahoma City, where they are also rumored to be buying up land. Follow this link to learn more about Sky Box and the opportunities it could bring here to Memphis!  http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Skybox+Golf&highlight=skybox&page=2
February 2, 2015 11:31am
kate
That elephant trash recepticle at the zoo. you know, the one with the snout/vaccum that sucked your trash into it. so cool. Liberty land, adventure river, hickory ridge mall, putt putt, east end skate, skating at the mall of memphis, brooks museum of art, pink palace, childrens palace, po folks. I lived in east memphis in the mid 80s. I was born in 80. great time to live there. so safe, and us kids and free reign. parents never worried about us. we'd ride bikes till dark. our parents would work on cars in the drive ways.  Ross Elementary School was the best in the city at the time. And kirby and RAines were where memphis ended.
April 14, 2015 12:00am
Tigerlily
You went to Solaman Alfreds every weekend to hear Jimmy Davis.
June 3, 2015 10:02am
Zada Hart Gates
If you anxiously waited for the Merry Mobile to come to your neighborhood in the heat of the Summer!!!
January 27, 2016 1:56pm
Sonny.
Hyde Park, Boxtown, Raineshaven, Capleville, Hickory Hill, Foxridge, Pine Hills, Hedgemore, Balmoral, Bell Park, Parkway Village.
March 16, 2019 3:36pm
Sonny
Weast Memphis. Highland to East parkway, Summer to Southern.
March 16, 2019 3:39pm
Gregory

You are definitely old school Memphis if you watched Straight Talk with Marge Thrasher, you remember Ed Craig and Charlie B. Watson, Dunn's Transmission commercials during Wrestling and the Shannon Street Massacre. Be blessed, Memphians.

May 29, 2023 2:48pm