True trini

I am a Trinidadian. I was born here, I grew up here and I live here. Even though I may not have much in common with the average trini, I cannot be discounted as being a true trini. After all, I can relate to these points. I originally got these on an email forward and I appended and edited the list. So “You are a true trini if…”

1. A good lime is not a fruit.
2. You know what washy-kongs are and probably owned a pair.
3. You have at least one relative in New York, Toronto and/or London.
4. You know what a hornaman is and you don’t want to get horn.
5. You can make “chow” out of any fruit.
6. You talk with your hands.
7. You call all dishwashing liquid Squeezy, all laundry detergent Tide or Breeze and all serviettes are Napkins.
8. You feel cold when it’s 19 degrees.
9. You grew up on Klim, Horlicks, Milo, Quick and Ovaltine.
10. You know what coki-eye is and know someone who is coki-eyed.
11. “Priority” is not the main concern of anything.
12. You know that “mother-in-law” doesn’t always mean your husband’s/wife’s mother.
13. You have knick-knacks all over your home in shelves and space-savers.
14. You can name at least three types of mangoes and bananas.
15. Doubles is the breakfast of champions.
16. You grew up eating snow cones with bunny ears.
17. You’ve played “shilling toss” in school.
18. You’ve also played “pitch” in primary school and you know that pitch is a game with marbles.
19. “Scene” and “Wham dey?” are acceptable greetings.
20. Carbonated beverages are called “sweet drinks”.
21. You’ve had benna balls, tamarind balls, toolum and sugar cake.
22. You know how to “scootch” someone.
23. A parking lot is a “car park”.
24. You know a few songs from Sesame Street and can sing them word for word.
25. You’ve had bake and shark at Maracas Beach.
26. You know that a “whine” has nothing to do with complaining.
27. You have a bag of Crix in your home and you eat it with anything and everything.
28. You say “Oh geed” when something grosses you out.
29. You’d rather take a “short drop” than walk.
30. Rain is a valid reason to miss work, school and other social engagements.
31. You know that a “stormer” has nothing to do with the weather.
32. Vaccinations are injections.
33. You wash “wares” after a meal.
34. You own a cutlass.
35. Fètes are parties around Carnival time.
36. You can avoid potholes with mad skill.
37. You got “licks” with a guava whip.
38. “Wha de jail” means “I can’t believe it”.
39. You cut up steak and stew it with potatoes or curry it with roti.
40. You’ve heard the stories of “Anansi” and “Papa Bois” as a child.
41. You’ve played a game of cricket at the beach even if you didn’t have a bat or a ball.
42. You “steups” when something or someone annoys you.
43. Free food cannot be passed up.
44. You put ketchup on your French fries and pizza and you call the French fries “chips”.
45. You can curry anything – mangoes, pommecythere, conch, fish, potatoes, peas, all meats, chataigne, etc.
46. You’ve seen cobeaux flying over the Beetham.
47. You know that CEPEP painted the stones and tree trunks white.
48. Shadow, Sparrow, Duke, Cro Cro, Sprangalang, Gypsy and Crazy are all people.
49. “Yuh stickin’” means that you are taking too long to do something.
50. “Old lady”, “centipede”, “donkey” and “snake” are all marks in Play Whe and you know someone who plays the marks according to their dreams.