Did you grow up in Louisville, KY? If you did, you probably don’t pronounce it “Louisville,” but that’s ok. You’ll definitely understand these 12 things though, and no one else will.
You didn’t realize how weirdly you pronounce it until someone from another state made fun of you for the first time. Now, you vigorously defend the smashing of three syllables down into one, single syllable. But sometimes, it’s just easier to suck it up and pronounce it “Loo-ee-ville” when meeting someone from out of town, no matter how unnatural it feels. Come on guys, you don’t always have to be grammatically correct, so what if it’s Louisville, KY.
This was especially true right after they finished constructing the new Spaghetti Junction and Google Maps still hadn’t updated. One minute you’re doing fine; the next you’re going over a bridge. (And now with the new toll bridge, you get to *literally* pay for your mistakes! $8 per accidental trip to the Hoosier State.) Thanks Louisville, KY.
You get super defensive if anyone tries to call you Southern, but you secretly love it. After all, we wouldn’t have sweet tea if we weren’t Southern. (But, like, Louisville, KY is very Midwestern. Just saying.)
Unless you were homeschooled, you almost definitely went through a phase where all the other first graders would walk around asking everyone, “Cards or Cats?” twenty times a day. This was the first test of your allegiance to whichever team your family had conditioned you to honor since birth. Depending on your answer, friendships were either forged or broken.
Getting off school for The Oaks on Friday was better than any national holiday. You probably rode the TARC down to the track and spent the day drunk and dressed in pastel. The rest of the weekend was spent betting against your parents at Derby parties and eating Derby Pie.
This is especially true for you if your parents grew up here, too. In a metro area with over one million people, it manages to hold true that any given person knows your aunt or your high school principal or Jennifer Lawrence.
The traffic literally doesn’t move. It can take an hour to drive a mile. Plan accordingly.
These events also happen to be the highlights of summer. What’s better than sitting on a blanket by the river, chilling with friends and listening to live music (for free, in the case of Waterfront Wednesdays)?
If you grew up in Louisville, you’ve definitely experienced a 30-degree difference in temperature over the span of just two days. Also, the school system never figured out how to properly react to the weather. School could literally get cancelled for a half-inch of snow, or a few ice cubes in the road.
If you’re into the indie scene, you know Bardstown Road is the place to go. Unfortunately, there were always those kids who would stop in at a couple record stores and independent coffee shops and suddenly think they were Lana Del Rey. (We’ve all been there. It’s okay.)
Louisville, KY is consistently ranked as having some of the best drinking water in the nation. You never realize how good it is until you go on vacation and suddenly find yourself missing your kitchen sink.
In Louisville, if someone asks you where you went to school, they don’t mean college—they mean high school. Most people are very proud of their alma mater, and the school rivalries are huge. The annual St. X-Trinity football game is the most-attended high school football game in the nation, as well as one of the best social events of the year.
Teen movies always generate mixed feelings. Either they will remind you of a simpler time and make you nostalgic, or…
I believe dogs should have the right to celebrate their birthday as much as humans do. Now let’s take a…
If you’re like me, your backpack is your purse, but some girls like to keep it stylish and shoulder that…
Being in a sorority has not only given me best friends but family, too. I can go to any one…
I have lately been obsessing over getting a dog. While I can’t get one now since I am in college,…
Sometimes you need a break from drinking every weekend but at the same time you still want to go out…