While Bentley is not, of course, a school that calls the great state of Maine “home” (though we do love Massachusetts), that doesn’t mean a few proud Mainers can’t feel some home-state pride and give in to a little nostalgia. That said, let’s set the mood here. Go ahead and put on the WCSH6 Storm Center theme song, crack open a Moxie if you feel so inclined, toss on your favorite flannel and here we go!
1. “Beans” does not refer to a vegetable– it’s the greatest store on the face of the earth. Open for your outdoorsy pleasure 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even on Christmas.
2. When someone brings up Patrick Dempsey, Anna Kendrick or Stephen King, you feel the need to cut in and tell them they’re from Maine.
3. You have that one family member who always feels it’s completely acceptable to bring the meat of something they shot to a family gathering.
4. You refuse to eat at a Red Lobster because a) it’s treason and b) you know Maine lobster when you taste it and Red Lobster is an embarrassing sham.
5. People automatically assume that because you live in Maine, you’re close to Canada. But in fact, most of us could drive to Boston and back at least once before we reach our great neighbors to the north.
6. At least 70% of your high school went to a UMaine school, so visiting becomes a mini reunion.
7. You know all too well the bottomless maze that is a general store (looking at you, Reny’s…). The only places where you can find rifle ammo, coloring books, hair curlers, and moose-print lamp shades all in one aisle!
8. If you go to school out of state, you get unreal amounts of excited and feel an immediate kinship with anyone you meet that’s also from Maine (whether they even live near you or not, you probably know someone in common).
9. You’ve had to exercise deep self control when someone from away tries to insist that an Amato’s Italian is “just a hoagie” or “something you can get at any Subway.”
10. You’ve had to explain to your non-Mainer college friends over and over the “camp” you’re referring to is your family’ s summer cottage, not a summer camp.
11. Speaking of “camp,” you or at least someone you know went to Camp Ketcha, Camp Kieve, or Chewonki back in their elementary or middle school days.
12. You’ve likely dated a guy who considered “going shooting” as a viable date (and you didn’t really hate it…).
13. You’ve received some pretty weird looks when you tell people that Maine does indeed only have just one area code. #207
14. You were taught the proper way to crash into a moose in driver’s ed.
15. You can perfectly decipher a thick Downeast accent, which typically consists of religious swearing + “Ayuh” + a few grunts + a handful of odd metaphors.
16. Your grandparents probably use metaphors and similes that are used by nobody else outside state lines or their generation.
17. You know the value of balsam scented Yankee candles at Christmas time.
18. You hear lots and lots of jokes about redneck, gun-carrying, cousin-marrying “Mainers.”
19. You were up on skis before you could fully read.
And finally…
20. People ask you where you’re from in Maine, but have absolutely no knowledge of Maine’s geography.
“Where are you from?”
“Maine!”
“Oh! Where about?”
“Are you familiar with Maine at all?”
“No”
“………”
Images courtesy of Maine Memes, Camp Ketcha, and From Away.