I'm so Baltimore, I...
- ...can listen to you talk and have a pretty good idea of which PART of Baltimore you grew up in;
- ...was in diapers when I started going to Orioles games;
- ...lived for a while in one of the project buildings that were imploded a few years ago;
- ...lived in one of those big houses in the Liberty Heights area that well off Jewish folk fled and converted into apartments after Black folk started moving in;
- ...lived my teen years in a rowhouse with marble steps;
- ...watched "Captain Chesapeake" after school every day, and Roller Derby and Wrestling on Saturdays;
- ...remember when the city tore down all those houses on Mulberry and Franklin Streets to build the "Highway to Nowhere";
- ...spent what seemed like half my childhood in Memorial Stadium (JUNIOR ORIOLES!);
- ...cried when the Colts fled to Indianapolis - and when the Bullets moved to Washington (I still refuse to call them the Wizards);
- ...WEBB radio station (We Enjoy Being Black!) in Walbrook Junction
- ... ate at the original Gino's restaurant on Howard Street;
- ...remember "Sampson's" as having the best soul food in West Baltimore - and the best rolls on the face of the earth;
- ...when First Mariner Arena was the Civic Center, when there was a stadium on 33rd Street, and there was no Harborplace;
- ...remember when your family had it good if your father worked at Bethlehem Steel;
- ...know what "skrimps", "skreets", and "zinks" are;
- ...can visit Lexington Market without being the least bit distracted by the surrounding chaos;
- ...know what "loose ones" are;
- ...spent many a summer night shooting Skelly out in the middle of Saratoga Street;
- ...remember the name of the nightclub where "You'll know if you belong!";
- ...used to participate in the Walk-a-Thon and Bike-a-Thon every year;
- ...remember Oprah when she hosted "People Are Talking" with Richard Sher;
- ...remember all too clearly the role of gift cards in our city political history;
- ...remember when Bon Secours Hospital was (not so) affectionately referred to as "Bon Se-kill";
- ...wonder how, after over 30 years of the subway and over 20 years of the Light Rail, there is still only one line for each;
- ...used to ride the Bus all over the city on "Super Sundays";
- ...took off from work as soon as I heard what day the Ravens Super Bowl parade was;
- ...might need to take a whole WEEK off if the Orioles ever win another World Series...
Well, that's about all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'll come back add on more items as I think of them (or "borrow" them from other people's lists). But all in all, I think this is a pretty good idea of what makes me SO BALTIMORE...
