A Buffalonian, from my experience, is a whole different breed of person. We Buffalonians have an incredibly intense pride for our city, one which has never been the biggest nor the best, but yet we all call it home. It took me until I moved to Boston for school to realize how much I really loved my city. Nowhere else in the world can you find a city and a community of people like Buffalo and its Buffalonians.
For starters, it seems as though Buffalo has its own language that only we can completely understand. Take this sentence for example, "Oh man! All I want is to gorge myself on pop, Blue, red hots, and wings at the Ralph, but I'm gonna need a double double to wake me up first though." To a Buffalonian that sounds like a typical Sunday in the Fall. To an outsider though that sentence is just jibberish. The language is just part of our cities character and the quicker you learn what it all means the faster in love you'll fall in love with it.
Buffalo's other main allure in my eyes is it quirky choices of food and our pride in it. Never have a met a Buffalonian who wouldn't cringe a little at the mention of a "Buffalo Wing". They're just "wings" everybody. That's it. Just "wings". They're one the best things we have to offer and just to clear things up, not all wings are created equal. A true wing is crispy, juicy and flavorful drenched in Buffalo sauce (not hot sauce, they're not the same.) and served with side of celery and blue cheese (not ranch). If you're looking for a really good meal, you'll compliment those wings with a Beef on Weck. For those of you who don't know and Beef on Weck is a Buffalo delicacy that requires a refined palate to enjoy. A sandwich composed of delicious roast beef, piled high with horseradish on a salty Kimmelweck roll. The Beef on Weck is a hometown favorite that may confuse some of the foreigners who didn't grow up with this strange specialty. If you're looking for a late night snack or a delicious breakfast, we've got that too. There's Mighty Taco, the holy grail of late night burritos and tacos, serving up Super Mighties and Buffitos till the wee hours of the morning for all of those Chippewa partiers. If your looking for for breakfast instead take a ride over to Paula's Donuts for an orange juice, or red velvet donut with some Timmy Ho's coffee to dunk them in. There's nothing like our food scene anywhere and while it may not be the healthiest I think I can safely say it's one of the most delicious. Food aside, Buffalo still has much more to offer- especially if you're grabbing some of these dishes at the Ralph or First Niagara Center.
Our sports teams and their fans are some of the most loyal you'll ever meet. How many other teams can you think of that have fans who will still tailgate for hours every Sunday for a team that went to four consecutive Superbowls and lost? The answer is none. Even though we've dealt with some disappointment with both the Bills and Sabres, we support them to no end. Through blizzards and ice storms we will flock to stadium and arena to watch our teams and wear the Buffalo logos with pride everywhere we go. We've even been known to shovel out the stadium buried in seven feet of snow for tickets. If that doesn't show some dedication, I don't know what does.
We're a strange people, us Buffalonians. We love our lake effect snow, our wings, and our sports teams. We love our heritage and traditions like Dyngus Day and the Powder Keg festival. We love that our city is small but growing, and that it still smells like Cheerios. And while Buffalo may not seem like much to someone looking from the outside in, it is our home and we're in love with it. This city holds a special place in all of our hearts as our weird but wonderful hometown, filled with neighbors and friends who just understand each other. No matter where we end up, we know we always have a city to come back to. Buffalo is a city that is as much a part of us as we are of it and it is a city that will always have that strange feeling of warmth to it no matter how cold it gets outside. Buffalo is our city and we love it.
So if you were wondering what it's like being a Buffalonian, I can tell you first hand. It's pretty amazing.
