You Know You’ve Lived in Yakima Too Long When You…

I was born and raised in Yakima and am proud of it. I know that Yakima is the butt of a lot of jokes around here and I’d be lying if I didn’t have a few things to add to those jokes as well, but I really do like that I am from here. The problem is I’m starting to date myself when I speak to younger people and they don’t have a clue what I’m talking about.

You know you’ve lived in Yakima too long when you…

Still call Yakima Regional “St. E’s”

Before it was Yakima Regional, it was Providence. Before Providence, it was St. Elizabeth’s Hospital or, as the locals would call it, St. E’s

When you say something is near “the old (business)”

And I know you’ve done this before. Especially when talking about a new business. Someone says, “Hey, where’s the Rib Shack?” Your response is, “It’s at the old Skippers in Union Gap.” Or when asking about the the Spring Break carnival you may hear someone say, “the old Ward’s Plaza.” We’re so used to saying where something was that we sometimes forget what’s there now.

When your old school teachers are now your children’s school teachers.

Now that’s some dedication to teaching! It hasn’t happened to me, yet, but I know plenty of people who went to school in the area and, since they still live in the area, their kids go to school with many of the same teachers. I’m okay with this.

When you can remember when Nob Hill wasn’t 5 lanes.

There was a time when most of our roads weren’t 5 lanes. Two eastbound, two west bound and the median. Traffic would congest more in those days, but it means we can drive a whopping 5 miles an hour faster than we used to be able to do.

When you still think you can safely sled down the terraces at Franklin Park.

For the record, I don’t think it was ever safe to sled down the terraces at Franklin Park, but we sure had fun doing it. Only now that I’m a little older, I go home a little more sore than I used to.

Do you have more you want to add to the list? Tell us in the comments below.