ONLY HAVING LIVED IN ALBUQUERQUE

YOU WILL UNDERSTAND ONLY HAVING LIVED IN ALBUQUERQUE... You don't think it's weird that everybody stares at you when you walk into the Frontier.
(For you out-of-towners, it's a cafe right across from UNM)You snicker whenever someone from out of state tries to pronounce your last name.You've had a school day cancelled because there was half an inch of snow on the ground.You know what an Arroyo is.Your high school's name was a Spanish word (La Cueva, Eldorado, Sandia, Manzano...)You still call the "Flying Star" the "Double Rainbow" and it's still the best place to get dessert in the world!There is a kachina somewhere in your home or yard.You believe that bags of sand with a candle in them are perfectly acceptable Christmas decorations.You have license plates on your walls, but not on your car.Most restaurants you go to begin with El or Los.You remember when Santa Fe was not like San Francisco.You hated Texans until the Californians moved in.You price-shop for tortillas.You have an extra freezer just for green chile.You think a red light is merely a suggestion.You believe using a turn signal is a sign of weaknessYou don't make eye contact with other drivers because you can't tell how well armed they are just by looking.You think six tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful front lawn.You have to sign a waiver to buy hot coffee at a drive-up window.You ran for state legislature so you can speed legally.You have read a book while driving from Albuquerque to Las Vegas.You know they don't skate at the Ice House and the Newsstand doesn't sell newspapers.You think Sadies was better when it was in the bowling alley and the Owl Bar was better before they put in the turn-off.You have used aluminum foil and duct tape to repair your air conditioner.You can't control your car on wet pavement.There is a piece of a UFO displayed in your home.You wish you had invested in the orange barrel business.You just got your fifth DWI and got elected to the state legislature in the same week.Your swamp cooler got knocked off your roof by a dust devil.You have been on TV more than three times telling about how your neighbor was shot or about your alien abduction.You can actually hear the Taos hum.All your out-of-state friends and relatives visit in OctoberYou know Vegas is a town in the northeastern part of the state.You are afraid to drive through Mora and Espanola.You iron your jeans to dress up.You don't see anything wrong with drive-up window liquor sales.Your other vehicle is also a pick-up truck.Two of your cousins are in Santa Fe, one in the legislature and the other in the state pen.You know the punch line to at least one Espanola joke.Your car is missing a fender or bumper (or a turn signal and aligned headlights).You have driven to an Indian Casino at 3 a.m. because you were hungry.You know the response to the question "red or green?"You're relieved when the pavement ends because the dirt road has fewer pot- holes.You can correctly pronounce Tesuque, Cerrillos, and Pojoaque, and know the Organ Mountains are not a phallic symbol!You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor they are going to charge you extra for international shipping.You expect to pay more if your house is made of mud.You can order your Big Mac with green chile.You see nothing odd when, in the conversations of the people in line around you at the grocery store, every other word of each sentence alternates between Spanish and English.You associate bridges with mud, not water.You know you will run into at least three cousins whenever you shop at Wal-Mart, Sam's or Home Depot.Tumbleweeds and various cacti in your yard are not weeds. They are your lawn.If you travel anywhere, no matter if just to run to the gas station, you must bring along a bottle of water and some moisturizer.Trailers are not referred to as trailers. They are houses. Double-wide trailers are real houses.A package of white flour tortillas is the exact same thing as a loaf of bread. You don't need to write it on your shopping list; it's a given.At any gathering, regardless of size, green chile stew, tortillas, and huge mounds of shredded cheese are mandatory.Prosperity can be readily determined by the number of horses you own.A rattlesnake is an occasional hiking hazard. No need to freak out.You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from New Mexico