I moved to Colorado Springs almost three months ago and the culture I immersed myself into is very different than the east coast.
1. You aren't a real Coloradian unless you own at least one thing that says Colorado/has the Colorado flag on it.
I'm not even joking. From bumper stickers to hats to t-shirts to swimsuits/bikinis to dog collars, literally anything you think of can be found with the Colorado flag on it. About a month ago I even caved and bought a shirt that says Colorado.
2. Everyone loves dogs.
No like seriously, they are dog crazy here. If you go a day without seeing at least one dog somewhere then you weren't in Colorado. They're in the grocery stores, at the bars, and even sometimes on restaurant patios.
3. The red lights don't mean stop.
A red light actually means that the next 1-5 cars can go. This means that if your light turns green you better hold off a second or five to make sure the other cars are actually going to stop.
3.5 Stopping at a red light can end with the car behind you honking the horn.
Apparently, you are the one in the wrong for stopping at a red light. From horn honking to almost being rear ended, I'm not joking when I say that a red light doesn't really mean stop here. Part of it may have to do with the fact that none of the red light cameras are actually on.
4. The weather does not know how to be one thing.
It goes from sunshine to rain rather quickly. The rain goes from slow to a little faster to a combination of rain and hail in under five minutes.
5. People are genuinely interested in what you are doing.
From the person taking your coffee order to the cashier at Trader Joe's everyone here will ask you what your plans are fun the day/if you're doing anything fun that day and they genuinely want to know.
