10 Questions We Ask While Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

 We’ve all done it—traveled outside of Pittsburgh (or moved away for a period of time) and had one thing always on the back of our minds: how to people live outside of our great city?! We compiled some of what we think goes through Pittsburghers’ heads while traveling.

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why doesn’t everyone wear their NFL or NHL team’s colors? – What do you mean the Carolinas aren’t full of men in black and blue Panthers ties and women in bejeweled black and blue sweaters? Why don’t people from New York wear Islanders gear as church wear? Don’t their teams mean as much as the Pittsburgh Steelers mean to me?

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why aren’t there fries on this salad? – You order a salad while on vacation, trying to be healthy. When it arrives, you’re dumbfounded. Why are there no fries on this salad like when you visit Primantis?  Where in the heck am I going to find a great place to eat like a Pittsburgher here?

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why do people pronounce things like they’re in Paris? – Wait. It’s not “ver-sigh” it’s “ver-sales!” Du Bois is really “du-bwah?”  Well… we may not pronounce it pretty… but there’s still some pretty unique places in Pittsburgh as well!

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Where are everyone’s parking chairs? – Driving down a typical suburban street on vacation and you just can’t believe it. Why are there no chairs out to mark parking spaces? Then, all of the sudden you spot one. It’s a Pittsburgh ex-pat, representing us all the way in this strange new city.

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

For the love of all that is holy, WHERE IS THE HEINZ? – There is nothing worse than heading to a restaurant while on a business trip and sitting down to order a big juicy burger and fries and asking for ketchup and being given Hunts, or worse—generic ketchup. Ugh, it makes me sad just thinking about it!

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why are people talking so differently here? – Yinz is y’all down south? Creek is crick out West? What?! Language is way different outside of Pittsburgh.

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

How come no one seems to know what jagoff means? – Someone bumps into you at a bar and you mutter to no one in particular, “what a jagoff.” Everyone around you looks at you like you have three heads. Apparently no one knows the greatest insult in the world.

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why are these roads making sense? – It’s like a magical world when you travel outside of Pittsburgh (when it comes to roads that is). In Pittsburgh, you’re given notice to merge a mere 300 feet before you’re supposed to. Chances are, that merge means you’re forced to swerve over multiple lanes. Oh, and we won’t even mention the potholes. You are constantly amazed at the state of roads in other cities.

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why is no one as friendly as back home? – Move to a new city and no one stops to help you with a flat tire like that one time when you were in college. No one bakes you a dozen cookies when you buy a house and move in. There is just something uniquely friendly as us Pittsburghers.

Traveling Outside Pittsburgh

Why am I missing Pittsburgh? – Whether it’s a craving for an Eat N’ Park smiley cookie or a yearning to visit Station Square at Christmastime and everything in between, every time we’re outside Pittsburgh, it’s always a little sweeter coming home.

3 thoughts on “10 Questions We Ask While Traveling Outside Pittsburgh”

  1. I have noticed how friendly Pittsburghers are. Moved away and came back. Talk to someone in a store they look at you like you are weird or crazy. Talk here and they respond with a smile and converse with you.

  2. Barbara Parsons

    We bought a home in Pittsburgh and I am finally returning home after a very long time away. Our permanent move takes place in March, but we’ve been zipping back and forth for months getting our new (old 1930s) home, and our first day there the neighbor brought over cookies! I have been to all 50 states and 6 continents, andPittsburgh love is exhibited in all these places. ‘burghers show the world their love through their caps, jerseys and t-shirts. It’s a great city and you lose a lot when you move away.

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