Top 20 Signs You're Living in the VI

1. You've got such a "alright mon" attitude, it doesn't bother you that there's no tsunami warning system in place even though you work in a kayak on the water or in a building just 100 feet from the water. (A warning system only give us 5 minutes warning so it's not worth the cost apparently.)
2. It doesn't strike you as strange when a restaurant your co-workers go to every few weeks closes for vacation for two weeks at a time a few times per year. But it still seems weird that the restaurant owners call your co-workers to let them know ahead of time.
3. On more than one occasion, you've ordered something online, waited patiently for a month after the estimate arrival date, complained to the vendor who then reships the item, only to have the original shipment arrive a week or two later.
4. Planning for dinner no longer means thinking of a menu at home, going to the store and buying everything you need. Instead, it involves thinking of at least three menus, going to the store, seeing that none of your ingredients are available, and coming up with something else you can make based on what product actually exists on the grocery store shelves.
5. If you see something you think you might want to buy later, you buy it right then. Otherwise it might be months (or years) before it gets restocked.
6. When you go to a grocery store in the states, you can buy the first apples (or any other type of produce) you pick up - they're all a million times better than the ones you're used to. Thorough examination is not required.
7. It always seems like everyone else in the world is on vacation - whether you're sitting in your office looking at the cruise ships or sitting on your kayak looking at the cruise ship tourists. You're sure they're all on vacation - summer vacation - every day of the year.
8. You wear sunscreen to work, along with a bathing suit, sunglasses, and a big hat.
9. You see the tourism advertisements trying to convince US mainlanders that they should visit the USVI because "no passport required" and you wonder when someone is going to inform the customs and airlines agents at the airports to stop harassing people who choose not to show their passports.
10. Everyone you know likes to eat, but nobody likes to cook or bake. Homemade baked goods are a novelty.
11. You never have to think about what to wear on the weekend. You've only been chilly once wearing a tank top and shorts during the day.
12. Though USPS.com says it'll just take 3 days for a priority package to reach you from Arizona or California, it'll really take 10 days, if you're lucky.
13. It doesn't surprise you when you get Westlaw's November legal research newsletter . . . in February.
14. You wish you worked for the local government so that you too could have 24 paid holidays each year. Or if that's not enough, become a legislator or local judge and get a free car too (on each island).
15. Your crackers need to be kept in a zip-top bag, inside a plastic Tupperware container (that you had your brother bring when he visited you because they're a hot commodity here). Then you toast them just before you're ready to eat them.
16. The toothbrush you left at home while you were on a week-long vacation, grew mold. You've also found mold on your wooden table and leather jacket.
17. The ocean feels cold when it's 78 degrees. The air feels cold when it's 76 degrees.
18. Everything around you seems to break much quicker than it should - cars, kitchen appliances, computers, clothes, weather radars.
19. Using superglue on deep cuts is much more appealing (and effective) than going to the ER for stitches.
20. Seeing iguana and mongoose roadkill no longer seems bizarre (though flattened land crabs are still strangely intriguing) . . . .