1. You were, still are, or know a village rat.
Ah, the middle school days of hanging out in the Village. Ah, the days in high school calling out Village rats and actively avoiding the Village. Ah, the college and beyond days of deciding it's alright, and accepting that you might spend too much time there. Or you at least know someone who spends way too much time at Starbucks.
2. You're a member of a yacht club, country club, the DAC, or a combination.
Detroit Athletic Club, Country Club of Detroit, Lochmoor Club, Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, Detroit Yacht Club, the list goes on and on. Plus you've got your city park and all of its amenities.
3. Youth sports.
Soccer at Neighborhood Club, tennis at the Hunt Club or Wimbledon, swim team at the park, junior sailing, gymnastics, baseball, basketball, track and field, cross country, you played it all.
4. Youth sports and soccer moms.
Speaking of playing it all, apparently your mom, who had never played a sport in her life, had played it all, too. She drove you around in her SUV loaded with healthy snacks and all of the gear for you and your siblings. She was always rushing you out of the house to get to practice on time, and your brother out to his game.
5. You go sit by the lake with friends when you're bored.
Parking at St. Paul and sprinting across Jefferson at age 16 was truly the life. Before that, you had to jump the curb with your bike and you were always scared of your friends pushing your bike into the lake.
6. You're always bored.
So really, you always seem to be sitting by the lake. There's literally nothing to do but go eat food in the Village or sit by the lake, and your parents always want you out of the house.
7. You're also always running low on funding because you're always going out to eat.
Your mom caught on by the age of 13 that you were living at either Starbucks or Panera and decided to cut you off. $5 a day for a bagel or a frap was apparently too much to ask for, and you had to begin scavenging for coins around the house to make do. But what else were you going to do? There's nothing else to do.
8. You can always tell when someone is from Grosse Pointe, and when they're not.
Pastel shorts, Brooks Brothers polos, Lilly Pulitzer, you can just tell. You know exactly how to spot an outsider, and you're always questioning why on earth they ended up in Grosse Pointe for the afternoon. What's there to do anyways?
9. You know literally everyone.
Driving down Kerchavel, you can name someone who lives on every street you pass, and you can name each and every one of your neighbors for five blocks. It's a small town thing.
10. You hate it, but you're never going to leave it.
You spend all of your time complaining about the lack of things to do, but you're never actually going to leave. At college, you spend your time missing the water and the proximity to downtown. When you have to get a real job, you hope and pray that you'll be able to find something in the area so you don't have to leave. It's got a special place in your heart, even though all you do is eat and sit by the lake.
