Quick, no peeking at your phone: What’s your child’s phone number? A national survey found 82% of parents can’t recite it from memory anymore. That number used to live in your head. Now it lives in a contacts app. These are the things Alabamians used to memorize that a phone now remembers for them. 1….
Many longtime Washington residents repeat the state’s rain reputation right along with tourists. The numbers don’t back it up the way people assume, though. That’s just the first of many facts Washingtonians get wrong about their own state. Note: This is general information about Washington tax and sales-tax law, not financial or legal advice. Rates…
The average host’s patience for a houseguest runs out after six days, according to a survey of 2,000 Americans. Nothing in the data suggests an Ohio host gets a longer clock than anyone else. About a third start dropping hints once that clock runs out, and one in five will just say it outright. These…
A kindergarten supply list in Duluth runs 15 lines, and one of them asks for two reams of printer paper. Nobody in Gwinnett County was buying the copy paper in 1992, and the list has only gotten longer since. These are the back-to-school essentials Georgia parents never had to buy in the ’80s and ’90s….
Think you could pass as a true Michigander in under a minute? Many transplants never pull it off, no matter how long they’ve lived in the state. These are the things that only make sense if you grew up in Michigan. 1. Vernors Cure Michigan parents skip the medicine cabinet for one fix when a…
A Georgian can tell you the day’s pollen count off the top of their head every April. Tourists just wonder why their black rental car turned green overnight. These are the habits that give away a lifelong Georgian. 1. Every Soda Is a Coke Ask a lifelong Georgian what they want to drink, and the…
You exit for a Buc-ee’s, roll down the feeder road past a Whataburger and a tire shop, and swing back onto I-45 without a single red light. You’ve done it a hundred times. Yet that road running beside the freeway traces back to a choice Texas made and most states didn’t. This is the real…
Nobody in a 1985 Georgia subdivision had an easy way to find their kids once the sun went down. No cell phone. No location dot. No doorbell camera. They ran on trust. These are the after-dark summer habits Georgia kids grew up on that would either never fly today, or kids are too preoccupied with…
A California beach citation can start as low as $1,000 and rise past $50,000. The amount depends on what a ranger catches you doing. These are the beachcombing rules that can turn a fun day at the coast into a citation. Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Beach and park rules, and the…
Illinoisans swear they don’t have an accent, a walk, or a single giveaway habit. They’re wrong on all three. These are the habits that put Illinoisans on the spot the moment they leave their state. 1. Calling Them Gym Shoes Illinoisans reach for a pair of gym shoes, never sneakers, and the word comes out…
