The Ultimate Retro Raleigh Quiz

Doesn’t matter how long you lived in Raleigh —

It’s the quality of the experience 

I don’t know how to make interactive quizzes, so here’s one in the lame form of a blog.  The U.S. political scene has been so brain-eating-wormishly insane that, after a few weeks of fevered writing, I am out of things to say.  But blogs need to be fed. 

This offering, in part, is in response to recent ‘news’ assessments of best places to live and the equivalent, many of which highlight Raleigh and its suburbs. Eat your heart out, people who now live in Mequon or Melrose or Boise or somewhere in the snake-infested Southwest. It’s also a response to the Buzzfeedy ‘How Southern/ North Carolinian Are You?’ quizzes that waft across our Facebook feeds.  Most consequently, to me, this is a way to buy a little more time to think of something new to write about politics.

The Retro Raleigh quiz is especially but not exclusively for former NC State graduate students, and it attempts to assess that experience through what most of us actually did or didn’t do (rather than through silly benchmarks like preference for sweetened or unsweetened iced tea). The point might be — if you agree with a whole lot of these propositions, you can claim to be a ‘Raleighite’ in perpetuity.  Even if you now don't live in Raleigh, Apex, Wake Forest, Garner, or Cary. Lucky you!  

You can claim to be a genuine Retro Raleighite if:

—You’ve had way too much to drink at Mitch’s.

—You’ve ridden the Pullen Park Carousel.

—You’ve participated in Moral Mondays, or wished you’d been here to do so.

—You’ve bought something at School Kids Records.

—You pulled an all-nighter grading 40 Freshman English papers.

—You’ve fed the pigeons in Capitol Square.

—You’ve run or jogged around the NC State track.

—You’ve had way too much to drink at PR.

—You’ve played golf, or putt-putt, or whacked away at a driving range somewhere in Wake County.

—You’ve gone to a movie at the Rialto.

—You’ve said vile things about Carolina.

—You pulled an all-nighter writing a final paper for a course you basically ignored all semester.

—You still have outstanding overdue books at D. H. Hill Library.

—You’ve slept for over an hour in the (late lamented) Tompkins Hall graduate lounge.

—You’ve gone to the North Carolina Museum of Art, or the North Carolina Museum of History, at least twice.

—You’ve spent some uncomfortable time, feeling old but oddly good about yourself, at Cup-A-Joe.

—You’ve had breakfast or brunch somewhere around Moore Square.

—You attended a live Whiskeytown performance and had way too much to drink.

—You crashed at a friend’s Raleigh apartment for more than three days in a row.

—You idolized an NCState professor and then thought better of it.

—You’ve attended a sporting event at Reynolds Colosseum.

—You’ve complained about how ‘theory’ is ruining appreciation of literature.

—You’ve borrowed a friend’s car and then 'forgot' to refill the gas tank after being stuck in Beltline traffic.

—You’ve attended a performance at the Theatre in the Park or the Raleigh Little Theatre in the Rose Garden. 

—You’ve gone bowling on Hillsborough Street (forgot the name of the second-story place, sorry!) and also had way too much to drink there.

—You’ve said vile things about Duke.

—You've attended a Durham Bulls baseball game and hwtmtd 

—You couldn't find your room on the first day of classes (double points if the class was in Harrelson).  

There are 28 questions (I think -- it's late, and counting while scrolling is not high on my priority list).  Nonetheless, if you answer in the affirmative to 20 of these questions, you are an official Retro Raleighite.  Aren't you special!