You Know You're From Ithaca When...

Booty shorts, cold snaps, and universal peace: life in Ithaca sounds pretty good, SammyK. –Sparkitors

I was shocked to see that no one had written a post about my beautiful hometown. This is an absolute abomination, I may have to go punch a duck, blah, blah, blah, etc. The place that gave the world both ice cream sundaes and the North American Seat of the Dalai Lama (yes, THE Dalai Lama) deserves some recognition. So, Sparklers, without further ado: you know you’re from Ithaca, New York, when…

-Second Dam is THE place to hang out in the summer. Cliff jumping, anyone?

-Your town has twice as many organic cafes as Starbucks.

-Seeing old homeless men dancing around in booty shorts on the Commons is a, well, common occurrence.

-You cannot live without Purity’s Ice cream, and go there regardless of the season.

-You get snow days right up to spring break, and act like its no big deal.

-You live in the tiny dot of blue in a sea of red that is conservative Republican upstate New York.

-Your town becomes eerily deserted when college students go home for the summer.

-You live within walking distance of some part of the Cornell campus and know that the local Target on moving day is a neverending source of entertainment. (I once saw two college kids debating the best way to fit a couch onto the city bus to get it back to their dorm.)

-When someone asks where you’re from, your standard answer is a sigh and a “You know where Cornell University is? Yeah, I live there.”

-GrassRoots is the highlight of your entire summer.

-You are either related to, friends with, or know a self-proclaimed hippie. Or you are a self-proclaimed hippie.

-During lunchtime, there's always some kid sitting in the corner playing a ukulele.

-You would probably starve to death if Wegmans and College Town Bagels ever shut down.

-You know kids from Madagascar, Belgium, Brazil, even Canada!

-You own at least one "Ithaca is Gorges" t-shirt, preferably in tie dye.

-You’ve skipped school to go swimming at Ithaca Falls.

-You truly believe in the idea of universal peace.

-You know Ithaca’s abundance of waterfalls, gorges, and state parks makes it one of the most beautiful places in the whole world.

Any other Ithacans relieved to see your hometown represented?

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