It doesn’t matter if you’ve been away from Massachusetts for a week or a decade, some things never change. We’re all blessed with peculiar habits that you might not even notice until you leave this state and your new friends point them out. Here are 11 unique Massachusetts habits that will stick with a Bay Stater for life.
1. Ordering a "regular" coffee at a coffee shop.
When you’ve spend years ordering this way at Dunkin’ Donuts, it can be hard to stop. What a regular coffee is actually varies across the state, but a safe bet is one cream and two sugars.
2. Sticking the beer outside to cool.
Winters here get so frosty that you can almost always count on saving freezer space just sticking that six-pack on the back porch. It’s a convenience you’ll miss if you move to a warmer clime.
3. Giving directions in time rather than distance…
If you ask us for directions, we’ll sidestep giving the actual distance in miles and go straight to how long it will take for you to get where you’re going. While folks from other regions might be a bit confused, this is totally natural for us.
4. ….or giving directions on our arms.
Author's Own
If you’re a Cape Codder, you’ve been using your arm as a map since childhood. It’s convenient and surprisingly accurate.
5. Being prepared for any type of weather.
If you were born and raised in the Bay State, you know that the weather in the morning will not necessarily match the weather in the afternoon…or even the season. Clearing snow off the car in April or breaking out the beach chairs in October is all business as usual here.
6. Seriously craving fried seafood.
Summer in Massachusetts brings with it heaping helpings of fried clams, oysters and scallops. While it may not be the best for you, it certainly tastes like home.
7. Being automatically sarcastic.
In some parts of the country, sarcasm is taken as rude or mean. In this state, people might be confused if you actually mean what you say the first time around. We here in Massachusetts know how to speak fluent sarcasm, and no one will get offended unless you’re clearly being mean-spirited.
8. Dropping the occasional "wicked."
While most of us don’t go around sounding like the stereotypical "Boston Guy’ you’ll find in the movies, we really do get wicked excited, wicked tired and wicked pissed once in a while.
9. Taking the long way home to check out the foliage.
When it’s fall out in Massachusetts, it’s hard to keep your eyes on the road and off the stunningly colorful trees. If you live in Central or Western Mass., the riot of autumn colors is even more breathtaking.
10. Asking for a frappe instead of a milkshake.
No matter how long you live in another state, you’ll never get used to ordering a milkshake instead of a frappe.
11. Thinking Massachusetts is the best state in the nation.
No matter how far away from home you roam, a piece of you will always be 100 percent sure that Massachusetts is the best place of all.
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