Comments on: What it Means to Live in a Small Town

By: Brad

Brad — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:29:01 +0000

Most of the time I don’t miss small town living. Some if it is a trade off though.

I can pick from a list of restaurants if I don’t want to cook.

I never get held up for 20 minutes because someone wants to know how my parents are doing.

Nobody randomly asks me for computer advice when I’m trying to pump gas or buy groceries.
(switching to Linux also helped)

On a day like to today I do miss it though. I’m trying to get my street light changed because it burnt out. Where I used to live the township clerk is also the hardware store owner. I could have just gone and asked him and it would get done. Instead I keep getting put on hold, disconnected or dumped to the wrong voice mail box.

By: Tania

Tania — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:07:51 +0000

When you call your doctor’s office and they recognize your voice, you chit chat with the receptionist (who you’ve known since she was born) and can get the doctor to give you a prescription without going in, because he’s been your doctor for 20 years and knows you know what’s going on.

Just another example….

By: Shawn Powers

Shawn Powers — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:10:30 +0000

Cory: Depending on when you read the post, I actually had (2) things about the pharmacy up originally. Since not everyone lives in a small town, I actually took the second one down so they didn’t get investigated. Sometimes doing the right thing is punished, and I’d hate for my blog to be a reason for it.

And no, they’re not shady in the least. In fact, quite the opposite.

By: Cory Wright

Cory Wright — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:07:41 +0000

Rarely do you see a list this long and agree with everything on it. I grew up in a small town too (<5k) and every single thing you listed is also true in my hometown. Except I never got cupcakes for Halloween.

Living in a small town is both simple, and complicated. It makes life simple that everyone knows your dogs and brings them back to you when they run away (our hunting dogs do this from time to time), but small towns also make things complicated because everyone knows your business, even when it isn’t your business, and you have to be so careful about what you say to whom. It’s really easy to know who your friends are though.

The pharmacy thing is so true though, and it is great to be able to trust everyone you know (to the guy who suggested your pharmacist is shady, I disagree). Businesses in small towns have no choice but to be honest, otherwise they are out of business in no time.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:58:21 +0000

Whenever I take out a Tech Scout, we have to stop for lunch somewhere along the way, and since there are usually at least 20 people, I set it up somewhere in advance. I’m the one who pays for it out of petty cash.

Obviously, you never include the tax when you’re figuring out what the tip should be, but once, I added the tip to the pre-tax amount and then forgot to add back in the tax…which meant I left a tip of about 75¢ for a party of 20. D’oh! I called them when I realized my error and went back the next day with the appropriate $30.

And we once had a car that was ready for retirement (and had no trade-in value). We called it the albatross. I started leaving it unlocked on the street with the windows open and the keys in plain sight…on the seat, in the ignition, on the dashboard. Nobody would steal the thing. We had to pay someone to take it away.

By: Vince

Vince — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:31:05 +0000

Here everybody brings thing to the radio station because they have “Personal and Emergency Messages” reading several times a day that will report things lost and found.

By: Shawn Powers

Shawn Powers — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:19:22 +0000

Ryder: Not controlled substances, because yes, that’s just silly on many levels. But blood pressure medicine, etc. And the asthma story is true. But because he knows my daughter and our family, knew it was on the up and up. (Again, not a controlled substance)

By: Ryder Step

Ryder Step — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:16:31 +0000

As for my previous comment, there was 2 things I thought of, but I added one while I was writing

By: Ryder Step

Ryder Step — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:15:05 +0000

You have a shady pharmacist. Giving away controlled substances will land you in jail SO fast

Also I had 2 small town moments lately. I lost my Drivers license and some other stuff, and apparently I dropped it in a parking lot a restaurant, and the next day my ex-girlfriend told me she found it in the parking lot.

Also yesterday, in my parking lot, a car left it’s lights on, so I opened their doors, and turned them off for them. Only in a small town would someone leave their car unlocked, and someone else would open the door just to turn their lights off.

Last, yesterday, the car next to me in the Wal-Mart parking lot, had a 10$ bill laying on top of the center console, and I looked, and the doors were unlocked.

By: Random Michelle K

Random Michelle K — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:14:33 +0000

The only comfortable way to buy condoms, feminine products, or adult diapers is through the self checkout. Before that technology, it was either awkward or you drove to the next town.

I have to purchase two of the three (and not the fun one) and you get over being embarrassed really quickly.