I’ve never lived in a town with a year-round population of over 5,000. This has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. However, being away at college this year (in a town hardly larger than my own) taught me how much I really love my small town and the people in it for so many different reasons.

1. That feeling of belonging somewhere is amazing.

When you can walk into a restaurant and they know your order, and a good portion of the people sitting inside say “Hey, Taya! How’s the bowling alley doing?” or “Taya! How’s Morris treating you?” it makes you feel like you really belong. I never really got that feeling throughout most of my years in school, so being able to have that in the community is the best. When I was a little girl my parents watched "Cheers," and I eventually realized that my town is kind of like "Cheers:" everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. Obviously, not everyone knows my name, and a good portion of them probably don’t care one way or another whether I’m in town or not, but a decent amount do, and that’s all a girl can ask for.

2. The rumors you hear about yourself are hilarious.

In a town the size of mine, everything gets around. If there’s a rumor about you, you’re going to hear it. In the course of one week I was told that I was pregnant, a police informant, dating my female lifelong best friend, and sleeping with one of my teachers. None of these things were true, but they made for some good laughs. Once, some kids from out of town came into the bowling alley where I work, and I heard them tell their friends, “Yeah that student council president here, I heard she got that position by sleeping with the principal!” Mind you, the rumor was absolutely ridiculous. First of all, the principal has little to no say in who becomes president; it’s a position that is chosen by student council members in front of the whole student council, and secondly, I would never have any kind of romantic relationship with any faculty member whatsoever. I laughed really hard so they all turned to look at me and one of them went real pale really quick, saw my name on my shirt, and apologized profusely.

3. You can get anywhere in town in a couple of minutes.

There isn’t much town to get to. You can practically get anywhere in my town in under five minutes. You can sleep in before work or school, and if your car isn’t working, it isn’t that far of a walk. If you’re cooking dinner and realize you’re out of butter, you’ll have it purchased and in your kitchen in roughly ten minutes. When you get a text from your friend that some drunk person is getting arrested by Casey’s, you can make it there in time to watch the drama unfold, and odds are, you know the drunk person, which makes it that much more entertaining. There’s a grand total of three stop lights here, and two of them are linked to change at the same time, so you’re never stuck in traffic very long either. Also, if you ever somehow manage to get into a fight, your friends can be there to back you up in minimal time. I would also suggest not getting into fights, however, because the whole town will know in no time, and the cops will be there before you can throw a decent punch.

4. It’s really easy to find people and places.

When I go visit my brother in his big city with 164,000 people living in it, he and his friends are always saying, “Meet me at the gas station on 41st and Louise, no, no, no, not that one, the one closer to the interstate. No, the one by Perkins. No, no, no, the one across the street from that one,” and that goes on for at least ten minutes, and then it’s another half hour before anyone gets there. In small towns, there’s only one of everything (except in mine, where we are blessed enough to have both a New Casey’s and an Old Casey’s.) If someone tells you to meet them “at The Mat,” you know that they’re at the singular laundromat that we have here, and can picture exactly where they’re parked. Which brings me to part two of this benefit: finding people. If you want to see what your friends are up to and they aren’t home, a quick drive around the square (that’s what we call the main roads that surround our town) will almost always result in finding their vehicle. Odds are they’re either out cruising (and you will pass them), at The Mat, at McDonald’s, at one of two bars which are conveniently located across the street from each other, or at Lange’s. All of these places can be covered with a singular loop. Sometimes just by driving around the square you will encounter people who will decide to join your cruise, and you will soon have a small convoy of friends driving in circles together. Yahoo.

5. Parade candy.

This one was more relevant to me as a child because now I’m an adult who usually has to be in the parade and therefore does not benefit from the candy overload. It sucks. Anyways, in a small town, there are fewer children. Fewer children mean that there is less competition for parade candy, and that you will leave with a grocery sack full of goodies. There’s a good chance that you even know the people in the parade, so they’re going to give you extra because that’s just what we do. The parades also aren’t ungodly long, but they aren’t terribly exciting either. There’s probably fifty thousand and a half tractors (which is a potential exaggeration), twenty horses, three marching bands, all the firetrucks that they have in the zip code, ten floats, some people running for various offices, the summer musical cast, a few people who accidentally drove their way into the parade route, and some old people in fancy cars. However, most of these things have candy associated with them, and they will throw it at you, and you will be content.

Small towns can be frustrating, but they can be equally amazing if you know what to look for. I love this town, and although a younger Taya would hate me for saying this, I don’t think I ever want to leave it. I love you, Pipestone, and all of you Pipestoners (which really should be officially changed to Pipestonians) in it.