1. Your TV would always be tuned into channels 34 or 52.
2. You always heard this dude on TV with a baritone voice saying, "222-2222."
3. Or you heard Jaime Jarrin say "1-800-626-2626...Y PROBLEMA RESUELTO!"
4. Echo Park was a place where cholos and cholas roamed the streets.
5. "Food trucks" were usually taco trucks with blue-tinted windows:
6. King Taco and El Gallo Giro were go-to spots for family dinners.
7. Your parents would listen to one of these stations on their way to drop you off at school:
8. The smell of danger dogs that you'll never forget wafted through the air as your parents searched for bargains at Los Callejones.
9. Or your parents would do all your "Back to School" shopping at the Alameda Swap Meet...
...where you could find literally everything, from cheap clothes to bootleg DVDs to katana swords...
...and churros.
10. You got your first SNES/Playstation/N64/SEGA Genesis from Dearden's or La Curacao.
11. You knew you had arrived in MacArthur Park when you saw this sweet Jaime Escalante mural.
12. And while you were there, you could always get a cheap lunch from the pupusa ladies working their magic next to the 99 Cents store.
You would eat them next to the lake while fending off seagulls. Or you'd walk into El Piojito and eat-n-shop for cheap.
13. You could always hear the mariachis play on the top floor of El Mercadito in East L.A...
...and it always smelled like leather, chiles, and Mexican candy.
You also had to pay a visit to la Virgencita in the parking lot.
14. The smell of pan dulce baking at 5:00 a.m. at La Favorita Bakery on Fourth Street.
15. You remember when Jorge Campos and Mauricio Cienfuegos were on the first ever L.A. Galaxy squad.
And your family finally had a reason to go to Pasadena more often.
16. You knew you were in Downtown L.A. when you saw these faces.
17. You'd be mesmerized by all the tiny guitars, wrestling masks, marionettes, the religious objects, candies, and cute little knick-knacks at La Placita Olivera.
18. You got your Quince dress and chambelan outfits from Pacific Blvd. in Huntington Park.
19. You'd get overjoyed when you got La Gigante from La Pizza Loca.
20. Your mom would shop at to one of these supermarkets:
Where they always...
...had...
...everything.
21. You always knew when la troca was in your hood because you heard "La Cucaracha."
22. You ate pastelitos and a whole bunch of Cuban goodness at Porto's in Glendale before it got all pipiris nice.
23. And finally, roaming through L.A. would be these hard-working vendors who would help you fight...
...your hunger...
...and that L.A. summer heat.
