This one came from my old friend, Candace, who now lives in Colorado --- I had to chuckle at this one.
For all the visitors, from other than Michigan, coming to the Super Bowl in January....
1. First, you must learn to pronounce the city name. It's Deh-troit. NOT DEE-troit. If you pro-nounce it DEE-Troit then we will assume you are from Toledo and here for the country Music hoe-down.
2. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Detroit has its own version of traffic rules... Hold on and pray!
3. The morning rush hour is from 6:00 am to 10:00 am. The evening rush hour is from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning. Weekends are open game.
4. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot. If you're first off the starting line when the light turns green, count to five before going across the intersection. This will avoid getting in the way of cross-traffic who just ran their yellow light to keep from getting shot.
5. Schoenherr can ONLY be properly pronounced by a native of the Detroit metro area. That goes for Gratiot too.
6. Construction and renovation on I-94, I-96, I-75, I-275, I-375, The Lodge and The Southfield Freeways are a way of life and forever. Just deal with it.
EDITOR'S NOTE: 96 has IMPROVED since they finished with the construction earlier this year! No construction there or 275 as of today.
7. If someone actually has their turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect or they are "out-of-towners"
EDITOR'S NOTE: Not true ....
8. All old men (or women) with white hair, wearing a hat and who flip you off have total right-of-way.
9. The minimum acceptable speed on I-696 and I-275 is 85 regardless of the posted speeds. Anything less is considered downright SISSY. Oh, and don't even think of allowing more than one car length between cars!
10. That attractive wrought iron on the windows and doors in Detroit is NOT ornamental. DO NOT get out of your car to take pictures.
11. Never stare at the driver of the car with the bumper sticker that says "Keep honking, I'm reloading", they really are!
12. If you are in the left lane, and only going 70 in a 60 mph zone, people are not waving because they are so friendly in Detroit. I would suggest you duck.
13. I-275 and I-696 is our daily version of NASCAR.
14. It's not M-10, it's "the Lodge".
15. Michigan might be the gateway to the great lake but THAT's not one of them, it's a pothole.
16. If someone tells you it's on Outer Drive, you better hope you have a map.
EDITOR'S NOTE: AMEN!
17. The Michigan left turn is simple. If you want to turn left, go a 1/4 of a mile past your turn, get to the left, then make a left, then make another left, then make a right when you get back to the intersection where you wanted to turn left in the first place. NOW you have gone left.
18. And those 2 really ugly arches over Telegraph???? DON'T EVEN ASK!! WE DON'T HAVE A CLUE!!!!!
WELCOME, ENJOY YOUR STAY, BUT AVOID EYE-CONTACT WITH THE LOCALS
