Delaware County or as we call it..Delco. Whether you're from Bernie's parish, Laurence, Dennis, Holy Cross, or Fatima, whether you went to Bonner Prendie, Carroll, Ohara, Upper Darby, Marple or Springfield, we all have one thing in common.. we're all from the infamous Delaware County. You can talk all the trash you want on it, but you would never let someone else say something bad about it because you know there's nowhere else you could imagine being raised.
1. Our famous slang
No, we're not Philly but we're pretty close to it and have picked up on a lot of Philly slang and have even thrown in our own creation of words. You've probably been asked what something means more than once and have had to explain what "saucin" "outta pocket" "jawn" "lit" and "drawin" mean.
There's also a good chance you've been told you exaggerate your o's and a's and sometimes forget about pronouncing t's making don't sound like don'. You never notice when you're around other people from Delco but as soon as you leave, you get told multiple times that you're pronouncing things wrong.
2. You eat breathe and live Wawa.
Yes, Wawa exists across the East Coast but there is something about Delco people having an extreme obsession with Wawa. There's a really good chance you can walk to one nearby, no matter where you live because there is a Wawa every 2 miles...and that's not an exaggeration.
3. The Rivalries between high schools
You don't know why but you've grown up with a high-school rivalry that started probably before you're parents were in high school, the most famous being Bonner vs Ohara. Meeting someone from the opposing school usually results in an...."oh" or an "ew."
4. Pica's has a special place in your heart.
It's not just a restaurant. If you're from Delco you probably know Pica's number by heart and if not, there's a good chance your parents do. Pica's is famous in Delco, it's impossible to dine in without running into someone and if you're just picking up you know that it's always 20 minutes.
5. It's a "small" county.
Okay maybe it's not actually small but it sure feels like it when you run into at least one person you know every time you leave your house. We have a habit of clinging to each other; it doesn't matter if you leave, it's still no surprise if you find someone else also from Delco that happens to know someone you know. We're everywhere.
6. School fairs and Kev's dances
The Ohara Fair, Broomall fair, dots fair...the weekend these fairs rolled around you know that you could find all of Delco there. But no one actually went on the rides, everyone just stood in big groups. And when there weren't fairs, every Friday night in grade school you probably found yourself standing in the sweaty Saint Kevins gym. The place where all of Delco came together, many first kisses, famous shorts and Uggs combo, sugar lip tank tops, and the occasional pencil skirts, and the place where you met people you're probably still friends with today.
7. Wildwood-The place you fit 15 people in a 3-bedroom house
The only town who turns senior week into senior summer... tell this to anyone not from Delco and they will be amazed. You spent way too much money renting a gross house with your closest friends from high-school and spent the summer hoping from different schools houses. A place where living like a degenerate was accepted, you wish you could go back way too often
8. Your family probably lives nearby.
There's a good chance most if not all of your family still lives in this familiar town because no one seems to ever leave. Whether you have family just a couple houses up like me, or a short drive everyone is pretty local.
Delco is more than a town, it's a culture and we all know it. You might remember when the Quarry Center was just a landfill of garbage, now you don't know how you lived without it. You know that the school traffic outside Upper Darby high-school can get unbearable. Cyo sports, turkey bowls, the Llanarch and Springfield Diner, these are all staples of good old Delaware County.
