Say what you want about us, but Pennsylvania’s a pretty amazing place and Pennsylvanians are passionate, friendly people. On second thought, you might not want to just say whatever you want about us because, well, some of us also have tempers. Here are 15 surefire ways to make a Pennsylvanian mad.
(Disclaimer: Because we live in such a diverse state with so many regional differences, the following may not hold true for all Pennsylvanians.)
- Steal our parking spot.
Flickr/Romana Klee Do you really want to make a Pennsylvanian mad? Go ahead. Move that chair so you can park your car in that parking spot. After all, we only worked hard in the freezing temps to shovel our car and our space out just so someone else could use it. See that chair? It means the spot is saved. Keep on driving.
- Claim Sheetz is better than Wawa (or vice-versa).
Flickr/William F. Yurasko Pennsylvanians just can’t seem to agree: Is Sheetz better or is Wawa better? It’s just one of our many interstate rivalries, so beware before daring to declare your allegiance to one or the other.
- Ask if everyone lives on a farm.
Flickr/Nicholas A. Tonelli Pennsylvania’s lucky to have so many rolling hills and farm land but, hey, that doesn’t mean we all live on a farm. So, maybe stop asking?
- Question if everyone in Pennsylvania is Amish.
Flickr/Deepak Trivedi The Amish play an important role in Pennsylvania but Pennsylvania is a pretty diverse state. No, not all Pennsylvanians are Amish.
- Wait until the very end of the lane to merge.
Flickr/rickmastfan67 We very patiently - or maybe while very agitated - sit in traffic as we wait to start moving again. We merged well ahead of time when we saw the merge lane warnings and you want to squeeze in at the very last second? Think again.
- Insist there’s nothing to do in Pennsylvania.
Flickr/Don Shall Nothing to do in Pennsylvania? Surely you jest. No matter where you go in Pennsylvania, you’ll find world class museums, delicious restaurants, eclectic shopping, breathtaking state parks, and a plethora of indoor and outdoor activities.
- Insult our sports teams.
Flickr/Walt Mateja Jr. Pennsylvanians have a pretty big interstate rivalry as it is but to have an out-of-stater bad mouth our sports teams? Guaranteed way to make a Pennsylvanian mad.
- Mispronounce the names of our cities and towns.
Flickr/David King Maybe we will just get mildly annoyed. But, after we tell you how to properly pronounce Duquesne or Schuylkill, don’t purposely butcher these hard-to-pronounce Pennsylvania town names.
- Tailgate.
Flickr/David Fulmer Yes, we see you right on our back bumper but where are we supposed to go? We’re either already over the speed limit or stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. No need to remind us.
- Tell us we talk funny.
Flickr/Oka-Tai-Lee Pennsylvania is, in some ways, like a world of its own. Accents and the words we use vary by region. (You’d better order a pop in Western PA and a soda in Eastern PA.) You might think a Pittsburgher sounds funny saying yinz or Philadelphians sound odd for saying youse but we find nothing funny about the subtleties of our regional dialect.
- Make fun of Punxsutawney Phil.
Flickr/Anthony Quintano You either love him or you hate him. Pennsylvanians seemed divided on the state’s most popular psychic groundhog. But, we can make fun of him because, well, he’s a symbol of our state. Others? You just might irk us a little bit if you make fun of Phil.
- Insist that Pittsburgh and Philly really aren’t that far apart.
Google Maps Some people mistakenly believe that traveling from Philly to Pittsburgh is like driving from Atlantic City to Philly, a fairly quick trip. Not so. Pennsylvania’s a significantly-sized state so keep that in mind when you tell us that it doesn’t take long to travel across the commonwealth.
- Complain that the state is landlocked.
Flickr/Nicholas A. Tonelli Lake Erie Bluffs in Erie pretty much disproves that theory of being landlocked. And, even without Lake Erie, we still have 121 state parks, most with gorgeous lakes and waterfalls. Then, of course, we’ve got the rivers and streams that crisscross the state.
- Refer to a hoagie as a “sub.”
Flickr/Christine Janowski The rest of the country might refer to that delicious sandwich - with meats, cheeses, and veggies - as a sub but most of us in Pennsylvania call it a hoagie.
- Insult our home state.
Flickr/Jimmy Emerson, DVM We all complain about Pennsylvania every now and then. It’s normal, but Pennsylvanians tend to get a bit defensive when others insult our beautiful state so, please, just don’t do it.
Sure, there are some things that will make a Pennsylvanian mad. But, in the end, what others say and do means very little because we all know that there’s no place like home.
Flickr/Romana Klee
Do you really want to make a Pennsylvanian mad? Go ahead. Move that chair so you can park your car in that parking spot. After all, we only worked hard in the freezing temps to shovel our car and our space out just so someone else could use it. See that chair? It means the spot is saved. Keep on driving.
Flickr/William F. Yurasko
Pennsylvanians just can’t seem to agree: Is Sheetz better or is Wawa better? It’s just one of our many interstate rivalries, so beware before daring to declare your allegiance to one or the other.
Flickr/Nicholas A. Tonelli
Pennsylvania’s lucky to have so many rolling hills and farm land but, hey, that doesn’t mean we all live on a farm. So, maybe stop asking?
Flickr/Deepak Trivedi
The Amish play an important role in Pennsylvania but Pennsylvania is a pretty diverse state. No, not all Pennsylvanians are Amish.
Flickr/rickmastfan67
We very patiently - or maybe while very agitated - sit in traffic as we wait to start moving again. We merged well ahead of time when we saw the merge lane warnings and you want to squeeze in at the very last second? Think again.
Flickr/Don Shall
Nothing to do in Pennsylvania? Surely you jest. No matter where you go in Pennsylvania, you’ll find world class museums, delicious restaurants, eclectic shopping, breathtaking state parks, and a plethora of indoor and outdoor activities.
Flickr/Walt Mateja Jr.
Pennsylvanians have a pretty big interstate rivalry as it is but to have an out-of-stater bad mouth our sports teams? Guaranteed way to make a Pennsylvanian mad.
Flickr/David King
Maybe we will just get mildly annoyed. But, after we tell you how to properly pronounce Duquesne or Schuylkill, don’t purposely butcher these hard-to-pronounce Pennsylvania town names.
Flickr/David Fulmer
Yes, we see you right on our back bumper but where are we supposed to go? We’re either already over the speed limit or stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic. No need to remind us.
Flickr/Oka-Tai-Lee
Pennsylvania is, in some ways, like a world of its own. Accents and the words we use vary by region. (You’d better order a pop in Western PA and a soda in Eastern PA.) You might think a Pittsburgher sounds funny saying yinz or Philadelphians sound odd for saying youse but we find nothing funny about the subtleties of our regional dialect.
Flickr/Anthony Quintano
You either love him or you hate him. Pennsylvanians seemed divided on the state’s most popular psychic groundhog. But, we can make fun of him because, well, he’s a symbol of our state. Others? You just might irk us a little bit if you make fun of Phil.
Google Maps
Some people mistakenly believe that traveling from Philly to Pittsburgh is like driving from Atlantic City to Philly, a fairly quick trip. Not so. Pennsylvania’s a significantly-sized state so keep that in mind when you tell us that it doesn’t take long to travel across the commonwealth.
Lake Erie Bluffs in Erie pretty much disproves that theory of being landlocked. And, even without Lake Erie, we still have 121 state parks, most with gorgeous lakes and waterfalls. Then, of course, we’ve got the rivers and streams that crisscross the state.
Flickr/Christine Janowski
The rest of the country might refer to that delicious sandwich - with meats, cheeses, and veggies - as a sub but most of us in Pennsylvania call it a hoagie.
Flickr/Jimmy Emerson, DVM
We all complain about Pennsylvania every now and then. It’s normal, but Pennsylvanians tend to get a bit defensive when others insult our beautiful state so, please, just don’t do it.
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