I come from a city in northwestern Ohio called Findlay, where the population is around 41,000. Growing up in Findlay wasn't always so bad; the people were nice, a majority of the neighborhoods were well kept, and its annual events were often fun. However, on a typical night, many struggled to find something to do around town. This wasn't just a one time deal; this was every night, weekday or weekend. That's when it hit that I live in a city with not much available.
1. You're always traveling out of town for entertainment.
Whether it be to Bowling Green for the parties, Tiffin for the drive-in theater, or Toledo for Sky Zone, you know your town doesn't have a long list of things to do --- so what other choice do you have but to leave for the night?
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2. If you can't find anything to do, you eat.
Chances are if your town doesn't have many entertainment options, it has places to eat. It's no surprise if you see someone you know at every restaurant in town since there isn't anything else to do except go out to eat.
3. You end up at Walmart.
Or Meijer. Or the Dollar Tree. Or the slowly dying mall. Either way, if you catch yourself roaming the aisles of a random store out of pure boredom, you probably live in a boring town.
4. Bonfires are held almost every night.
There's nothing wrong with bonfires; they spark good conversations and are a great source for s'mores and hot dogs. However, you know you come from an uneventful town when you receive a text almost every night asking if you'd like to come over for a bonfire --- that's when you know everyone's run out of ideas.
5. Along with pool parties.
Again, nothing is wrong with hosting or attending a pool party; but when you find yourself at someone's pool or the local pool several times a week because that's your only option, you know your town is boring.
6. You Google, "Things to do in _______" and nothing comes up.
Besides the local bowling alley and the nearest McDonald's.
7. You spot a crowd of people chilling in a parking lot.
They're either sitting on top of the car chatting, standing around smoking, or drunk dancing under the street lights. They can't think of anything else to do, so why not hang out in the Taco Bell parking lot?
8. When you're trying to make plans with your friends, but can't manage to think of anything to do.
The conversation always starts, "Want to do something tonight?" and ends, "Yeah never mind, I can't think of anything to do tonight."
9. Throughout social media, you constantly see people complain about your town.
And how it's boring and sucks. It's so bad that people who don't even live in your town explain on Facebook or Twitter that they dread stopping by, even if they're just driving through.
10. You find yourself walking or driving aimlessly around the streets.
Similar to walking around a convenience store, but only outside (and the fact you look a little bit creepier). Your eyes are on alert for anything that looks remotely interesting that you could stop by and explore.
11. You've become desperate.
You and your friends have come up with the most unrealistic and weirdest ideas, simply out of desperation; you'd do basically anything to get rid of the boredom spell, including crashing a wedding, prank calling two stores at once and having them talk to one other, and exploring a haunted house. While some of the plans seem either too drastic or just plain stupid, it creates great memories and decreases how bored you actually are.
