Growing up in a big city as a kid as a breathtaking and sometimes overwhelming experience that you’ll never be able to forget. It’s engrained deep in your psyche and soul, and that’s not a bad thing. Here are some truths that are undeniable, for city kids.
1. Small talk is incredibly boring for you, even though it’s a normal way for people to interact with each other in the morning. That’s just because they didn’t have an outrageous city around them to provide more interesting topics, though.
2. Not having a curfew and going out at all hours. Some of the best memories were on those hot summer nights past midnight. If parents actually enacted a curfew, it’s rare that kids did comply. How do you raise your kid in the concrete jungle and not expect them to live wildly?
3. Having fashion that was shaped by the ultimate street style. While other kids had to scroll through fashion sites and Tumblr, you had it right in your backyard, able to see it first hand and create your own innovative looks, from the best stores in the world.
4. It’s suspicious if people are too nice, whereas in other countries, being nice is a sign of hospitality and kindness. Big city kids are raised with an extra dose of realness and seeing through the BS.
5. Partying earlier than everyone else and going to clubs. Yeah, with the right fake ID, the possibilities were endless. And you were probably just 15, meaning that by the time college rolled around and people were exploring clubs for the first time, you had been over it for years.
6. Hand in hand with that last tidbit, dressing too old for your age was common. Parents’ jaws would drop worldwide if they saw the hemline, cleavage, and heels involved in embarrassing but risqué high school outfits.
7. Being an expert at public transit, and taking it yourself at an age that was way too young. Most public transit maps in big cities are overwhelming, but you had it down pat by age 10, and your mom trusted you to take it at an age when you probably still should have had an adult escort.
8. Not knowing how to drive. In most places, kids learn how to drive by the age of 16. But when you have the world at your fingertips via endless buses and subways, why would you need to learn how, in an already traffic congested city? City kids are definitely late bloomer drivers.
9. City kids ultimately end up more independent than those who grew up in smaller towns. It’s hard to be a helicopter parent when you raise your child in a vast city, so being independent comes with that package deal, and it will better you for the rest of your life.
10. City kids are pros at spotting tourists and suburbanites. They know a native when they see one, and even if you’re trying to pretend like you belong to the city, a true city kid will be able to sniff out the outsiders at a moment’s notice.
11. Even though growing up in the city has been incredible, you’ve always secretly wanted to go to a backyard or basement kegger like in the movies, ”American Pie” style, instead of boring ol’ apartment parties all the time.
12. You’ve been spoiled by the best restaurants, concerts, shopping, museums and entertainment. Because in-demand cities get top-notch quality when it comes to culture and lifestyle.
