I met Ruby today

I've been living in Oklahoma for thirty years.  I call it home.  I've raised my family here. Yet, I was born and raised in the Bronx.  Go Yankees!
Today, I was in a store in Yukon, OK, home of Garth Brooks.  There was a lady standing outside the same dressing room.  We started to talk.  Turns out she lived six blocks from where I lived in the Bronx. 
We hit it off and are doing lunch next week.  She said, "How did we know each other? I've lived here for thirteen years and still feel strange around these people."
Now, here's my question.  Are people who live in a geographical area so much alike that we can recognize our own?  This has happened to me on several occasions.
Another time I was in New York's Grand Central Station, and a large Italian man came up to me and started to talk about the Yankees.  We laughed and he left.  My friend from Oklahoma said, "How did he know you were one of his?"
I answered, "Because he knows you're not." 
She was so sweet and pretty and delicate.  A preacher's wife.  Now, the Bronx has preacher's wives, right?  So?
My new friend's name is Ruby!