I guess you think it's cute, but I find your use of the term "shoobie" on this blog to come off as insulting and degrading.

Why? It's a term of endearment, really. The reality is, there are two categories of people here in the summer. Those of us who live here all year round (locals), and the rest, who are here only during the summer and have primary residences elsewhere (shoobies, a name that dates to the very first people who came from Philadelphia with their lunch in...ok, if you don't already know this, I can't help you.) The term was given new life in the Nickelodean series RocketPower, which had some Jersey guys writing for it. The locals secretly love the shoobies anyway, even if it makes it harder to run to the store for orange juice. But we pretend to be annoyed and so we call you shoobies. And we park our cars on the street in front of our houses early in the morning on hot, sunny days, making it harder for people to find parking close to the beach. Actually, I rarely do this, but I've noticed my summer neighbors (shoobie-local hybrids because they are here like every weekend all year round) do this all the time. Shoobies are toughest on other shoobies, I guess.

I agree with Nick the shoobie term has outlived it's quirkiness, regardless of Amy's explanation.

The locals love the out of towners because they help fuel their local economy.

I agree with Nick the shoobie term has outlived it's quirkiness, regardless of Amy's explanation.

The locals love the out of towners because they help fuel their local economy.

We all can see through it - when you use (overuse) the "shoobie" word, it's really just a way of trying to tell us you are just a little more superior than the rest of us because you live at the shore. The "I'm better than you" attitude... you can admit it, come on...

I go to the shore a fair amount and I know people that live there... many seem to do the same thing.

But when you defend it and try to tell us that it's really OK, that's the typical attitude of journalists. In most businesses, the motto is "the customer is always right". But with the news business (journalists, editorial boards), the motto is "the customer is always wrong".

Ok, that's two separate issues: my attitude as a local and my attitude as a journalist. I'll have to address them separately.
1. Local vs. non-local. I've lived here 13 years, and up until maybe 2 or 3 years ago, I really did not feel like a true local. I much more identified with my neighbors (and still do, to some extent) who live in Philly most of the time. I even still sit on the beach near most of my summer neighbors, not the locals (that's another story, which I did two summers ago, to much fuss). But after awhile, it kind of dawns on you. You are a local. Maybe, it's just time on the island, your kids in the schools, winters spent walking the dogs on deserted beaches, feeling the shock of all the Philly people showing up in May, knowing as you go about your day when the wind shifts and the fog lifts. And you also realize that most of the locals used to be from somewhere else. Although there are lots of families that seem like they've been on the island for generations as well. They are the true locals.
As for the journalist issue, I do plead guilty to being aware that any time I start talking about shoobies, it gets a rise out of people, and leads to discussions like these, which perhaps is part of the temptation. I'm not sure if the term has outlived its usefulness; part of the charm of Atlantic City and its surroundings is the persistance of the old ways and old terms, even as they fade into history. Nobody's packing lunch in their shoeboxes, or, with a few notable exceptions, taking the train back and forth from Philly, but the term shoobie survives into the next generation. At least in South Jersey.

My child spent a week or two at the Viking rowing camp in Ventnor City a few years ago. They have a super boat house. It was her first experience in rowing. (Three years on the Schuylkill at Bachelors Barge Club and a year on the Charles at Boston University followed.) It was great! While I only got to see her rowing on the bay once, it was a very touching moment with her Holy Spirt and St. Joe Prep roots coming together. All four of her grandparents would have been proud of that moment, the Atlantic City/Ventnor/South Philly grandparents. I got such a kick out of watching munchkins carry an eight out to the water and put same in the water. That was priceless. Really, they didn't look bad on the water either. Somebody was doing a great job coaching. Clearly, this camp was one of the best values our child has received, all that and a chicken dinner too.

I'm a shoobie. I'm proud of it. I take my lunch to the beach in a shoe box (PayLess). Is that how the word was derived? I thought it perhaps had a Latin or Greek root. I also wear the wide straw hat with the straw pieces sticking out and slather myself with sun block (at least 45SPF). When a local yells shoobie, I think of my late father-in-law, a true local, yelling "shoobie" to me at his dinner table in Ventnor before I married his daughter. There's no finer word and I'd say at this point that it's an ancient word and needs to have protected status. Now, on to the White House to see Ralph and Joe and get a sub. (kneel in reverence).

As soon as I see the word "shoobie", I stop reading. I don't know anyone who uses it, including full-time residents. It's pretentious and outdated.

Personally, I have no problem with the term "shoobie." I find it cheerful and lighthearted, just like the shore. I mean, what people who visit the shore get legit upset by being referred to as someone who uses a shoebox to carry all they need? In fact, because its such an old term, any "teeth" it once had are really lost. I'm a shoobie, and proud of it.