How can you tell you live in a small town: I'll go first.

[hedgehog]

On any weekend, you can go out to a benefit for a family facing hospital bills or other disater.

[AllegroRondo]

1. If your friends tell you "I'll meet you at the stoplight"

and you have no problem knowing where to go.

[Wcross]

8. You have a stoplight?

The nearest town to me doesn't even have a stoplight. It doesn't even have any town cop to write the ticket if you were to run a light! (population 632)

[havocmom]

66. Nearest town has population of 632?!?! Wow! Giant metropolis compared to where I am!

Gridlock must be TERRIBLE there ;)

[Arger68]

46. I remember when the COUNTY I used to live in didn't

have a stoplight. I didn't live in a town with one until I turned 35.

[XemaSab]

58. If there is a year-long battle in the local paper

over putting a new stoplight in front of the old folks home. :eyes:

[hippywife]

70. Bet they got

the colors all picked out, too! LOL

[BOSSHOG]

2. Ya can't swing a dead cat

without hitting a baptist church. Signs advertising DNA testing. A feed and seed store.

[AllegroRondo]

3. DNA Testing signs

a small town near where i live actually has a billboard for one of those. A picture of a baby, and the caption "Who's my daddy?"

[Lars39]

4. You try to slink in and out of the store

or go when there aren't a lot of people there because you don't have time to stop and talk to everybody and their cousin.
Or you don't want to be there when the nosy cashier is there.

[hedgehog]

6. How about going to the big store in the nextr town when purchasing certain

personal items?

[Missy Vixen]

53. Oh, preach it

I've had occasion to purchase a pregnancy test kit before. I knew that if my husband or I bought that thing within the city limits, it would be all over town in an hour.

Julie

[murielm99]

5. You can dial a wrong number and

end up having a conversation with someone you know anyway.

[hedgehog]

7. How about being asked when you meet someone new, Oh, are

you related to the Whosits over on Apple Lane?

[Pierre.Suave]

9. N'ah

I'm a Whatsit from blueberry lane.























Oh come one, you KNEW it was coming.

[DainBramaged]

10. Your pigs are related, and your dogs made puppies last year

[hedgehog]

11. How about everyone referring to stores by the name they had

20 years ago?

[Phillycat]

14. Oh hell, we do that in Philadelphia.

Restaurants and bars, too.

[Patiod]

21. OMG - I was just going to reply the exact same thing

"I'll meet you over by Wanamaker's" or "It's up by Strawbridge's" or "the Lit's building"

I still tell people "it's across from where Carolina's used to be"

My father used to get me horribly lost. He grew up out on the Main Line (not rich, but that's another story) and that area used to be terra incognita to me. He would give me directions using the wrong street names (he'd call something Gulph Road when it was Upper Gulph, or not specify WHICH Conestoga Road) and the wrong landmarks.

[Phillycat]

24. Try telling someone from out of town to take the Blue Route.

It doesn't actually say that on the signs. :rofl:

[Patiod]

63. I made that mistake with my brother

who grew up here, but moved to NC about 20 years ago

Didn't occur to me that he wouldn't understand the whole Blue Route thing

:rofl: :rofl:

[hedgehog]

27. After I started this, it occurred to me that many big cities are comprised of smaller

neighborhoods which in effect are small towns.

[hedgehog]

29. How about having various lost souls, people living alone with

either mild mental disablity and/or mental illness whom everyone recognizes and takes care of.

Examples - the fellow who came into the bank just to chat with the clerks, and they took time to talk with him and reminded him to dress warmly.

- another fellow who comes in to cash his check and needs help counting his money

[xmas74]

50. Which is why I chose to raise my child in a smaller town.

We're at 15,000 (not tiny but not big city). People who have lived here for many years still do this to those who need help the most.

There's a story of a guy who wanders up and down the street all day, taking time to warm up in the library. He didn't have the money for a coat. One day he took a break in the library. In the seat he usually sits in was a box w/ a note addressed to him. It was a coat, receipt enclosed for Walmart, in case it didn't fit. No signature.

Things like that, boxes of food appearing on peoples doorsteps in the middle of the night, fundraisers for sick family members-that's why I chose to move to a small town to raise my child. Sure, I'm often frustrated w/ some of the mentality here (and much of it is actually from those not originally from the area-transplants) but when I see random acts of kindness I know I made the right choice.

[Kali]

74. Crazy Mary

Doesn't every town have a Crazy Mary?

[China_cat]

12. Gossip goes into summer reruns.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. "Welcome to ______" on both sides of the same sign. nt

[Radio_Lady]

69. Oh, that's cute... My children grew up in Ludlow, Vermont -- it is pretty small.

Everybody called me by my ex-husband's name when I visited and I didn't even try to correct them.

[MorningGlow]

15. You don't even have a McDonald's

I know, it's probably better this way, but when you get the munchies after midnight...gah...you gotta travel at least 10 miles for some icky fast food...

[ElsewheresDaughter]

17. nearest mc donalds to me is a n hour drive

[ElsewheresDaughter]

18. one red light in 380 square miles

[MorningGlow]

20. Dayum you win

Are you in the Adirondacks by any chance? Sure sounds like it! :hi:

[Patiod]

22. Sounds like upstate PA!

More deer than people.

[havocmom]

67. Over three hours (each way) for me

Good think I cook and have a freezer

[Critters2]

31. When the national church asked us to boycott Taco Bell, it was no problem for us

Nearest Taco Bell was an hour and a half away.

[hedgehog]

32. I live in a small town that straddles the main 4 lane between

Syracuse and Oswego. The 4 lane goes back to (although some would say degenerates to) a state highway through town. Along that strip we have :KFC, Subway, Frajita Grill, Arby's, McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Little Caesar's, Dunkin'Donuts. The Pizza Hut, Jreck's and a second Dunkin'Donuts are on the state highway that goes through town on the other side of the river.

[noshenanigans]

44. I remember when we got one in 1996

Before that the only fast food in town was Hardees. At the time I was in high school and so excited because it seemed like then we lived somewhere "real". Isn't that weird? It's really sort of a pack mentality when I think about it.

I just wish I could still live in a small town.. I think the lifestyle would be good for me, but since I grew up in one (and ran for Los Angeles at the first chance) I have a grudge to bear.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. nobody ever uses direction signals while driving..we all know exactly where everybody is going

[hedgehog]

26. How about people walk in the road and cross anywhere

or when they do cross at the corner, cross aginast the light becaue they know you'll stop!

[BrotherBuzz]

19. You know you live in a small town if you ask to borrow your own tools from the neighbor, and...

return them when done.

[BOSSHOG]

23. My neighbor and I each have

an acre lot with no fence in between. We keep our wheelbarrows and carts on the property line and use them when we need them and then put them back in the same place. Another neighbor keeps a trailor on the side of his property for refuse to take to the landfill. Anyone who wants to add to his pile can do so. Its very nice to have such situations. We all lost a great deal of trees and such after Katrina and the cooperation in the neighborhood to clean it up was incredible.

[ohiosmith]

25. The phone book has one Yellow Page, and only a quarter of it has any listings.

[fudge stripe cookays]

28. No place to get brunch on weekends.

Well, nothing involving hollandaise, fresh fruit or fancy coffee or mimosas. Although there tends to be a lot of bacon, eggs, and homestyle potatoes. :eyes:

[hedgehog]

30. You aren't a proper small town unless you have one authentic diner.

[fudge stripe cookays]

49. We're not a small town.

We're a hick suburb with no personality, no diners, nothing.

When we first moved out here the Chili's was getting ready to open. And we had a Starbucks. The idea of a restaurant was a converted old Dairy Queen called "Pancho and Lefty's.

Love the house, hate the town.

But the last few years, it's been growing like mad, and we actually have a few more restaurants and shopping spots, so it's better than it used to be.

[Z_I_Peevey]

33. A parking lot ,or some school building like a bus garage,

is named for a beloved coach. And it has a big ole sign to prove it: "The Smitty Dufresne Memorial Ag Barn," or something like that.

[bullwinkle428]

34. Majority of the male populace worships at the church of

Larry the Cable Guy!

[Strawman]

35. 4:1 or greater ratio between headstones and residents

[ms liberty]

36. A traffic jam is 6 cars at the one flashing light...

and people complain about it all the time.

Directions always include someone's house, store, field, barn, or other well-known markers, i.e., "take a left at the gravel pile." (real example from my community!) None of the directions include road names or numerical addresses.

When you move to the area, people ask you "now, who are you again?" They don't want to know your name, they want to know who your parents and grandparents are/were.

People wave at each other in their cars. You can spend your drive to town and back doing nothing but lifting your hand. People also wave at you when you pass them as they're out in their yards.

[Critters2]

42. The worst traffic jams are at harvst time, when they're unloading grain

at the elevator. I used to just walk everywhere when the grain trucks were in town.

[KT2000]

55. Yeah - Can you belive the traffic today?

Six cars at the light and everyone is wondering what is going on.

Also - "post traumatic" discussions with anyone who will listen after making a trip to the big city.

[Kali]

75. Or if someones does use a street name, you have no clue

where they are talking about. :rofl:

[ms liberty]

79. Yes...funny story about that...

mr liberty works for FedEx Express. He's lived in our VERY rural county most of his life, and knows it like the back of his hand. His regular route is actually 2 counties over, but when he works on one of his days off (he's got a 4 day/10 hr per day schedule) he often has to work a different route. The first time he worked our county, he thought that it would be a piece of cake. HA! He had to look at his map through the whole day for just about every stop....because he didn't know the name of so many of the roads, or knew them as something else! Now when he works OT, he does everything he can to work somewhere OTHER than our home county!

[Rambis]

37. No stop lights

Love it!

[guitar man]

38. When it's Friday Night

and all the sheep are hiding! :rofl:

[youthere]

39. When more people appear at the local gas station...

to see the new "Hot Cheese" machine, than attend the elementary school concert.

[graywarrior]

40. There's a five year old walking around that resembles your husband

and no one says a word about it.

[havocmom]

41. Instead of calling 911, you shout over the fence

and the sheriff stumbles out of the house in his robe and asks what's up.

[Critters2]

43. The one time I had to call 911 in my whole life,

I didn't realize the dispatcher was a member of my church. Her response when I said my house was full of smoke.."Oh, Pastor honey, you'd better get out of there. I'll send someone by. Are the kitties okay?"

[havocmom]

45. LOL We don't have any 911 operaters within 100 miles

Calls to to a town then get relayed back out here to the response team. Easier just to hollar over the fence, or toss a rock through a window to get somebody's attention.

So, were the kitties OK?

[leftyclimber]

47. Directions do not involve street names

but the names of the people who, twenty years ago, owned the particular farms you need to turn corners at.

[hellbound-liberal]

48. You know you're from a small town when..

You can't buy cigarettes because all the store clerks knew how old you are.

[doc03]

51. Here you see people stop their cars and talk to

someone traveling in the opposite direction on the road and nobody gets excited and starts blowing their horn for them to get out of the way. The largest city in the county has a population of 6860.

[Missy Vixen]

52. Someone I'd never met before stopped me on the street of our hometown

to ask how my recent surgery had gone. I was a city councilperson at the time, but it amazed me that someone I'd never met knew that I'd had my gallbladder removed, and wanted to chat with me about it.

We are consistently amazed at how quick the rumor mill is here.

Julie

[JohnnyLib2]

54. At 17, you go to a "barn party" with your high school coach

and somebody has to drive the local priest home to keep him safe.

[KT2000]

56. Getting behind the hay truck

that has been sitting in the field all year waiting for mowing season. Rusted and worn out, they still run - up to 20 MPH max.

[otherlander]

57. When it's 12 on a Friday night

and you can stand on the main street for 2 minutes and not see a single car.

[tigereye]

59. one or fewer stop lights

Santa Claus has a little permanent house on the Main street corner.

Thats actually a pretty cool thing, actually.

[Radical Activist]

60. easy one; you wave at pretty much everyone you pass by or see.

In big cities people don't even look at eachother.

[FooFootheSnoo]

62. yeah

I live in Tampa now, but grew up in a small town in Kansas. Every once in a while I forget where I am and wave at someone. If they notice, I always get a weird look.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

65. Small town KS

I lived in Wellington and South Haven. Can't get much smaller than South Haven. But by coincidence I lived a bunch of years in Tampa, some Hyde Park, mostly in Temple Terrace.

[brook]

61. If your family

doesn't go back generations in town, you're considered a newcomer. Consequently any opinion you may have about any civic matters is deeply discounted. Being a Democrat means further points off. :)

This is so important that at town meetings when anyone speaks, they must give their name,and they always follow it with "resident for 50 years", "born here" etc.

[madrchsod]

64. you call houses in your neighbor hood by the name

of the people who used to live their when you were a kid...

[sarge43]

68. People stop their cars in the middle of the road to gossip

No one refers to your home by number - it's the green house up da rud where those weird bird people live.

If you're not related to everyone in town for at least five generations back, you're the "newcomers".

You're sure to be alderman someday because all 67 adults in town get a turn.

If you want to draw a crowd, just bring in a backhoe and start digging. At least 20 people will show up -- with picnic baskets.

Everyone waves when you drive by, even the bears and moose.

[struggle4progress]

71. Guy offers you a ride to "the corner" -- which is 30 miles away

Or, you're forty miles past the "No Gas for 90 miles" sign

[hippywife]

72. We live in a town so small

we don't even have our own post office. We have to go to the next town over to pick up mail if it's something that won't fit in our mailbox. A mile away is the convenience store/gas station/car wash/video store/pizza place/gameroom. Across from it are the schools - all of them, elementary, jr. and sr. high, all on one plot of land next to the volunteer fire department.

[WeRQ4U]

73. Driving directions always include the names of farmsteads...

Like "Take a left at Johnson's and go until you get to Kostelecky's silo. When you go over the cattle guard, take the first left. Go 2 miles and you're there."

[ScreamingMeemie]

76. People tell you where your kids are before you even start

looking for them.

[JitterbugPerfume]

77. Everyone knows everyone else

Heck. when my daughter married her second husband, she found out he knew her ex and everyone else she knows , but they didn't know each other.

everyone is related to everyone else (except THEM) :thumbsup:

and---it is the most gossip ridden , sanctimonious , closed minded town on earth.


I now live in another small town where I am not related to anyone :shrug:

[Mrs.Matcom]

78. When there are no schools, gas stations, or street lights,

and the only General store is open when the owner feels like coming in. There were no street signs until 10 years ago, to give directions you told people to turn right at the Johnson's house (yes there was a sign out front on the porch). Kids had to be bussed 45 minutes to get to the high school...and the town is actually an island in Maine! We do have a post office, but no police, just the sheriff and the fire station is all volunteer. they are very proud of their motto..."haven't lost a foundation yet!" Sigh, I miss it so!