Buffalo vs. The Rest Of Us

I guess every place has its own culture, that's what gives a city/area character. Sometimes an area's idiosyncrasies are quaint or interesting, and sometimes they're unusual. Every once in a while, they're frustrating to an outsider.

Buffalo (and Western New York) has some qualities all its own. In this post and several that follow, I'll share some that I've noticed.

• Shaped sugar cookies are called "cut outs" up here. It's odd that there really isn't a name for these anywhere else; no one else differenciates between sugar cookies and cookie-cut sugar cookies.
• Also, chef salads here don't have the typical meat, egg, and cheese that you'll find in other parts of the country.
• Tacos are sold at pizza places around here. If you tell a Buffalonian that you ordinarily can't get tacos just anywhere, the Buffalonian will probably think you're bluffing.
• They have Theme Tray Auctions up here, often as a fundraiser. They get donated items that go together, but them in a basket or on a tray, wrap them in colored cellophane, and set them out on a table. You buy little tickets, and put them in little buckets (they look like quart-size containers for wonton soup) they have sitting by each "tray". They do a drawing of the tickets.
• There are a lot of places selling "hots" or "red hots" or "Texas red hots". These are hot dogs, and these are not spicy. You would expect things to be a little "hot" in Buffalo, what with the wings, but "red hots" are simply red hot dogs (one can only imagine how they achieve this).
• They say "pop" here, but they label it "soda" in the stores.
• People take their shoes off when they visit you. They'll stop just inside the door and take off their shoes. Maybe because there's so much snow/salt/slush in the winter?

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more observations!