Growing up in a small town definitely has it's perks, as well as its disadvantages, but there are many characteristics that I'm sure you'll find differ greatly from a city. Living in a small town has been interesting, as everyone knows your business, sometimes even before you do, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Being older, I see how it shaped me and how much I've grown to love this little place that I call home.
1. After 30 mins of driving away from your town, you’ve passed through at least three different towns
2. You go to the grocery store and see more people you know, then the number of items your buying.
It only seems to happen when you have to be out of the store in ten minutes, but you'll end up having to talk to everyone and their Mother. Ms. Suzy from your second grade classroom will comment on how tall you've gotten, your brothers' friend's Mom will say she hasn't seen you in ages, even though you saw her two weeks ago just an aisle over, and the Mr. Taylor, your old baseball coach will ask how baseball's going even though you've spoken about how you no longer play a number of times.
3. You can recognize the car in front of or beside you at the stop light solely based on it’s bumper stickers.
Youth soccer club, "My child is on the honor roll", Bernie 2016, and the common OBX or LBI stickers; they all give a little clue as to who owns the vehicle. If there's more than four Bernie Sanders campaign stickers, you know it's that Bernie fan in your history class (or at least one of his friends).
4. When you pass someone running along side the road, you automatically turn your head towards them to see if you know them.
Which you almost always do, by the way, but it's much worse if you've ever been a part of the cross country or track program. Then you're quietly chanting "ONE OF US" in your head...
5. There’s one park in your town that has housed basically all of your childhood activities like sports, clubs, and camps, as well as a few of your jobs in high school.
And to this day you still go back and feel like a kid again. Well, at least for a few seconds before the kids arrive and you're once again spending your summer chasing around twelve 7 and 8 year olds for six hours each day.
6. Most of your teachers in high school don’t actually live in your town.
They tend to live in bigger, more populated areas but they commute since it seems your town doesn't have enough teachers living in it...
7. Your class in school didn’t change except for the five kids that moved away, the three that went to private school, and the four that moved in.
The way your classmates see you never changes, no matter what color you dye your hair, how smart you become, or how much black clothing you wear. You will always be the kid they all met in elementary school.
8. When a new kid moved into your town, you and everyone else in your school asked, “Why did you move here?”.
Like you literally could have gone ANYWHERE else, but your family chose here? Like it's not like there's anything intriguing here or a big major company that provides surplus jobs. There's literally nothing appealing here.
9. Almost every kid played either T-ball or recreational soccer because there was simply nothing else to do in this town.
There weren't dance classes, or cheerleading, or anything of the sort so parents just put their kids (boys and girls) into recreational sports. Among the favorites that kids rarely carried through to high school were soccer and t-ball.
10. You know at least four police officers in town because they’re either your neighbors or the Dad of a kid in your class.
He says the famous line, "Don't worry, my Dad's a cop," as he pulls out the special get-out-of-jail-free card that states his Father's name, rank, and district in the county. This little card will basically get you out of anything in a small town because everyone will know the kids' Dad.
11. If you live farther than ten minutes from school, it’s unlikely anyone will drive you home because chances are, their commute is less than 5 mins.
And I guarantee it was the same person who would ask you for a ride day after day. And your answer was always the same, unless they happened to catch you on a day you were feeling slightly generous.
