Ohio is one of the most distinct places that a person can live. It has cities, farms, and even islands, all of which are easily accessible to its citizens and visitors. When you live in Ohio, you begin to adopt that culture and you can't help but fall in love with it. Whether Ohio has always been home to you or you had made it your home later in life, you find that once you leave, you have some trouble adjusting. Things aren't always the same as they had been in the past, and that is going to take some time getting used to. It takes leaving the state and spending time elsewhere for you to really realize how truly different Ohio is than any other place you've been.
1. You look like an idiot when "Hang on Sloopy" plays and you are screaming alone.
You come to the embarrassing and sad realization that no one even knows that the letters "O-H-I-O" belong after the chorus, just like you've been conditioned to sing.
2. Athens exclusively means Greece.
Not the home of the infamous party school, Ohio University.
3. Nobody else shows their pride by spelling their state's name with their arms.
I'd like to see Massachusetts try.
4. Other people don't share your complicated relationship with Lebron James.
He abandoned your city in its time of need and then came back to save the Cavaliers from the chaos he caused, and that's just something you can't just get over.
5. Other communities aren't centered around scarlet and gray.
You actually begin to miss seeing it everywhere, and you begin to realize that those colors have no significance to non-Ohioans.
6. The "State Up North" is talked about twice as much as it was in Ohio.
And not in a negative way like you're used to. Whenever anyone describes it as a "nice place," all you can do is cringe.
7. Nobody cares about the Browns anymore.
8. Buckeyes are only nuts and Ohio State students.
Once you leave Ohio, the chocolate and peanut butter combination that makes you salivate is reserved for Reese's Cups only. Trying to find a buckeye outside of Ohio is like trying to find a Michigan fan in Columbus--it's impossible.
9. You get offended when someone makes fun of where you're from.
In the past, you would laugh at any Ohio joke and even throw some of your own jabs in. Now when someone makes fun of your home, you feel personally offended. Only Ohioans can make fun of their state.
10. You actually miss Ohio.
While you're there, your list of reasons to leave seems to grow by the second. You cannot wait to leave and it seems like you just can't get out soon enough. But once you're gone, you start to remember what made you love it so much. You begin to miss the things that made it feel like home, and that makes you want to go back more than ever.
