I’m from Long Island, New York, born and raised. I’ve lived in the same house my entire life in a town pretty smack dab in the middle of the Island, though technically in Suffolk County. Going to school out of state is a big deal for Islanders. A lot of us stay in New York, either at a SUNY upstate or a school in the City. For those that attend school out of state, especially in a different region of the U.S., we often find comfort and get super excited about meeting fellow Islanders. I’ve been lucky enough to make a few new Long Island friends at school down south.

The initial conversation typically goes like this:
Person 1 speaks with a heavy accent, dawg, cawfee, oh my gawd, etc.
Person 2 automatically feels a connection, asks where person 1 is from.
Person 1 responds "Lawnguyland."
Person 2 says “Oh my gawd me too, where on the island?”
Person 1 replies with a town opposite from that of person 2.
Then, the insults begin.

An island divided must come together.

A very dear friend of mine, and fellow Odyssey writer, Timmy Confort, will never lose amusement in calling me “Suffolk trash” because he, of course, is from Nassau. It’s funny; we Long Islanders always seem to use “______ trash” as our insult of choice: Nassau trash, Suffolk trash, North Shore trash, South Shore trash. Clearly, we’re all just a bunch of trash, so let’s stop bashing on each other and start bonding over the love we share for this island.

Beautiful beaches.

Yes, we all have our favorite beaches: Jones and Long Beach loved by our Nassau friends, Bobby Moses and Montauk loved by our Suffolk friends. But even if our regular old beach days might be a bit segregated, there are definitely summer days that these beaches bring all Long Islanders together.

Concerts at the Jones Beach Nikon Theater attract people from all over the Island. And if we're not actually within the gates of the concert screaming our heads off to the Backstreet Boys and Jesse McCartney, there's a good chance we're just tailgating outside, hanging in the parking lot or on the lawn of the beach.

Wherever we're from on the Island, the summer isn't the summer without a trip to Montauk filled with good surf, Happy Bowls, and of course pictures with the giant Ronjo Motel Tiki Man. We've all tried to shove ourselves to fit inside his mouth at some point -- what could form a stronger bond?

The City.

Some of us are only 20 minutes away, for some of us it takes a little over an hour to get there. But all in all, the City is our city. We have the luxury of experiencing the Big Apple, the Melting Pot, the City that Never Sleeps, the Empire City, the Concrete Jungle for as long as we want, and then we get to go back to our quiet suburbs whenever we please.

LIRR.

The Long Island Railroad truly brings Long Islanders together. We're typically brought together on this lovely means of public transportation for the city work commute. But the true beauty of togetherness comes forth on the weekends, specifically on the 1:42 a.m. out of Penn Station (the last train before the 4:15 a.m.) as we all sprint to the gate in our drunken stupors. We come together to shake passed out friends awake in time to make the dreaded change at Jamaica, and we run to our next trains, hand in hand, making sure that even our new friends made it on safely. Oh, and don't forget about the train ride bonding that happens on St. Patty's Day, but that's a whole other thing

Ralph's.

There is actually nothing better than a Ralph's italian ice. You could try arguing it, but your opinions would be disregarded. Because Ralph's are scattered across Long Island, our cravings are pretty much guaranteed to be satisfied wherever we are on the Island.

Celeb central.

North Shore Nassau takes pride in the history of Gatsby in Great Neck and Sands Point and North Shore Suffolk won't let you forget that Billy Joel was a Huntington resident.

South Shore Nassau's got the Lohan Family in Merrick, and South Shore Suffolk loves (or hates) the Kardashians spending summers in the Hamptons.

Egg sammies.

Long Island is the only place we can rely on for a quality egg sandwich. We all have our own favorite bagel shop or deli to head to after a long night, but even if we're elsewhere on the island we will always have the option of curing our hangovers with a mouthwatering BEC (bacon, egg, and cheese) and large half and half (iced tea + lemonade, duh). And you sure as hell know that if you leave the Island for school, the first thing you're doing when you get home is catching up with friends over egg sammies.

I get it. Your hometown is your hometown. Suffolk Pride. Nassau Pride. Yeah, yeah, I know. Be prideful of where you come from, that's fine. But don't forget that you're a part of something bigger. And when I say bigger, it's still only 20 miles long at it's widest point, so really it's small enough of a place to unite all of its people. Let's start loving each other as much as we love this island. #LongIsland #StrongIsland.