Cultural and Regional Differences About This Page:

[Chrissi]

A question for the globetrotters...

Have you ever been on a trip or in a new town and noticed some cultural or regional difference that took you by surprise? Or is there something you found out upon arrival that you wish you'd known about before you got there?

Me? I was startled to find out that you could buy alcoholic beverages in convenience stores and grocery stores in the southern states.

PA has some pretty strict laws regarding alcohol distribution. It's gotta come from a bar, beer distribution warehouse, state-run liquor store, or restaurant. (And if you look like you're under 40, you can bet you'll be carded.) Pennsylvanians would be up in arms if someone suggested selling booze in the grocery store or at a gas station/convenience store!

So what surprised you during your travels?

[ 01-08-2003, 04:47 PM: Message edited by: Beaner ]

[*Pixie*Dust*]

I am still amazed when I go to states and can pump my own gas. In New Jersey it is against the law to pump your own.
I also can't believe what a hard time you have finding Taylor Ham(pork roll) south of Maryland.
I am also on a quest to find a decent bagel and slice of pizza in Southern California.

[Chrissi]

Originally posted by Happy&Grumpy:
I am still amazed when I go to states and can pump my own gas. In New Jersey it is against the law to pump your own.

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">I live in one of those states Margo! I've always pumped my own gas. In fact, I had to teach some of my girlfriends how to pump theirs when they came across the river to visit. (I grew up in Easton, PA on the Delaware across from Phillipsburg NJ.) It's one of the first things you have to learn in Driver's Ed here, though.

I still get impatient when I go into NJ and have to wait for someone else to pump my gas. It takes forever!

[stonewall]

I gre up in NJ and PA and now live in NY; here we pump our own gas(please,we practically have to do our own surgeries!), can buy beer in the grocery stores-but not until after 12pm on Sundays-and have 2 liquor stores per block.
Ah , a hoagie by any other name..... [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img]

[Janet 46]

Originally posted by Happy&Grumpy:
I am also on a quest to find a decent bagel and slice of pizza in Southern California.

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Margo, I have close friends who moved to Valencia just outside L.A. and they stock up on bagels whenever they come to visit their families in NJ. However, they recently found a guy who opened a shop near them who used to make pizza on the Boardwalk at Seaside!

If you're going to California, let me know and I'll get the pizzeria location for you. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[katerkat]

My hubby's from PA, and I was shocked when his dad showed me that his Coors Light cans were in a Micholob box. He said he had to go to the bar and they just put them in whatever box they have. I said, "What's wrong with the grocery store?" and they all looked at me like I had two heads!
And I'm a proud Jersey girl who never pumped gas until I went to college!
I just moved to Mississippi, and I'm finding massive amounts of cultural differences... Hmmm, lemme think of some... A lot of driving ones: their yellow light is longer than Virginia's, but they all slam on the brakes, no matter how close they are to the light!
Oh, and another general one -- the town I used to live at didn't allow right turns on red. And I still can't do it. I get honked at all the time. [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] It just seems wrong!