small town life...

epbrown · 10-01-2016, 09:04 AM

One thing I'll never get used to about it after 30 years in Chicago is being recognized by people I've never met. I was in line today at the grocery store and stood aside to let a guy in his 60s push what looked to be either his mother or Moses's kid sister by in a wheelchair. He paused and looked at me: "You're a Brown, aren't you?" "Um, yes." "I thought so. Tell your brother that Ollie said hi." "Yes, sir."

No idea how he did that. My brother and I don't resemble each other strongly. We know that because we once took a class together and for the entire year no one realized we were related until the last week of school when I asked if he needed a ride home and someone overhead us. And I've been gone 30 years - I've had numerous conversations with people 40 and younger who didn't realize there was another Brown until they saw me.

I miss big city anonymity.

pwd72s · 10-01-2016, 09:31 AM

Welcome home, Mr. Brown. Cindy & I met when we were both in our 20's...me late 20's, she earlier. We'd both tried the big city life for a while, then moved back "home" to the same small town we grew up in.

You couldn't pay us enough to move to a city...

Oh Haha · 10-01-2016, 09:33 AM

Moses' kid sister!!

We've been in our small town for 16 years now but I only get recognized as "the guy that volunteers at school". or "Mr. Jacob's Dad".

Guess that isn't so bad.

epbrown · 10-01-2016, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Welcome home, Mr. Brown. Cindy & I met when we were both in our 20's...me late 20's, she earlier. We'd both tried the big city life for a while, then moved back "home" to the same small town we grew up in.

You couldn't pay us enough to move to a city...

At least you gave it a try. I've had a lot of conversations about how awful big cities are with people that haven't been to one, ever.

I'm still adjusting to the culture - for instance, my family points out I don't smile nearly enough for friendly southerners. Since my extended family is so large (70-some cousins), I've been able to limit exposure to my "big city ways" with the general populace, like owning an espresso machine (the only Starbucks is out by the expressway). Here they've got both types of motorcycles, Harley and Davidson, so my fondness for Hondas (and not even the V-twin knockoffs that look like Harleys) is viewed askance.

The cost of living can't be beat, though. My house was 1/5th what it would have cost in Chicago, easily, and I can pay the property taxes with what I find in my sofa cushions. I was sorely tempted to buy 10 wooded acres for $20k and plop a trailer on it, but that seemed too "Unabomber" for me despite being fairly common around here.

pete3799 · pete3799's Garage

The population here is under 1200. Don't know them all but do most.
Had to look up the number. Population peaked in 1840 at 1745 residents.
The fewer people the better as far as i'm concerned.

epbrown · 10-01-2016, 12:51 PM

Growing up here, I was always pissed about John Cougar Mellencamp's song "Small Town," especially "I can be myself in this here small town, and people let me be just what I want to be." We got MTV here in the 80s and the first kids to try wearing mohawks or get face piercings certainly weren't left alone to be what they want to be.

jyl · jyl's Garage

I prefer big cities, well, at least the ones that are dynamic and growing. They attract talented, highly educated, energetic, successful, diverse people. Admittedly they also attract scum, losers, and grifters, but somehow I manage to interact with the former and avoid the latter. I'm not yet at a stage when I want to hide in a small town. I realize there are some small towns that attract the kind of people I like, but very few. Anyway my industry doesn't exist in small towns, so that's that.

pwd72s · 10-01-2016, 02:08 PM

Hey, this small town is an intellectual town. I was lucky enough to run into him just last week.

Otter74 · 10-01-2016, 03:07 PM

It can happen in big cities, too. When I lived in Detroit a guy I'd never met recognized me outside the grocery store. Well, technically he recognized my bike, but I didn't know who he was.

My dad grew up in Colombia and went to college at Yale. One year, on his way home for Christmas, he was in Macy's in Midtown Manhattan a few days before Christmas when a stranger tapped him on the shoulder and said, in Spanish, "hey, are you the son of XXX?" (He was) Roughly the same thing happened to him about 35 years later in Florida.

aigel · aigel's Garage

He did it looking at your stature, posture, gestures and body movement. Some of that is very recognizable across generations.

ckelly78z · 10-01-2016, 04:23 PM

I'm really glad alot of you guys enjoy big city life, because it keeps the rural areas that I love less populated, with far less uptight neighbors. We live on 10 acres with our closest neighbors 1/4 mile in either direction......talk about peaceful, safe, and quiet, and pretty to boot.

M.D. Holloway · 10-01-2016, 08:29 PM

Not sure the definition of small town but my town is 15,000. I must say, every time I go to the store (Walmart, Target, Lowes) or the shops I run into someone I know or someone that knows the wife or kids. Never fails. I don't know if I like it or not...

Noah930 · Noah930's Garage

I'm getting tired of big city life. I've recently spent a week in Hawaii, and a week in Austin. And after returning to LA, it only took me 5 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively, to witness how there's a lot more unpleasant as- holishness here than there are in those less-populated places. I'm ready to move someplace that's not so tightly wound.

epbrown · 10-02-2016, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aigel

He did it looking at your stature, posture, gestures and body movement. Some of that is very recognizable across generations.

That I would expect, as the family often notes I'm the spitting image of my/our grandfather. Thing is, he lived to 95, and pretty much everyone outside the family that knew him is dead. It's a bit funny. I know I look like my grandfather, and I can see a sort of resemblance between him and Morgan Freeman, but I don't get why strangers say I remind them of Morgan Freeman.

Here's a follow-up: do you guys recognize people that went to the same school but that you didn't know personally or even have classes with? A sore point with my sisters and aunts is since I got back I've often run into people that went to the same high school who remember me, despite the fact that we never actually met. They think I should remember these people nearly 40 years later. I'm shocked they remember meand there's no chance I'll remember them.

wdfifteen · wdfifteen's Garage

My graduating class had 52 people in it. I didn't recognize about half the people at our 30th year high school reunion, and I still didn't remember some that introduced themselves to me. I lived in a town of 3500 from about age 19 to 43. It was great to be able to walk to the grocery, hardware, liquor store, etc. Sometimes I wouldn't drive my car for weeks at a time. But it was crowded. The rest of my life I've been in the country and I love it. I don't want to be in town, but I don't want to be so far out I can't get a pizza delivered. I enjoy visiting cities, but wouldn't want to live in one.

oldE · 10-02-2016, 03:58 AM

I have lived close to a small town for 35 years. My wife is from this area. Here is a bit of a song I wrote years ago after it took about 20 minutes to walk across the Farmers' Market.

"And at the Farmers' Market on a Saturday morn
To get a jar of jelly of a dozen ears of corn
Or looking at a sweater or a painting or two
I have to turn around when I hear 'Yoo-hoo!'

And it's 'Hey Bob!
How's the wife, how's the job
How're the kids? No kidding! Well isn't she a dear
Did I hear you say and I heard the other day
Ain't it funny how nothing ever happens 'round here'?"

I like being part of this community.

Best
Les

pavulon · 10-02-2016, 06:00 AM

Grew up in a small town and am an "import" into this small town. Many small towns are "cliquey" and this place is no exception. Once had an elderly, small-town VIP clearly trying to show me "what's what" before I worked for her by telling me where I lived. I confirmed that she had the right house and finished up my discussion. Just before we parted company, I mentioned which car she drove, her personalized plate and that "It sure is small town." She was less smug after the field had been leveled. People

wildthing · 10-02-2016, 06:27 AM

Grew up in a small town but moved to a big city. Never looked back...

motion · 10-02-2016, 06:37 AM

We live in a small town and absolutely do not (nor do we want to) fit in. Small towns tend to very gossipy, and I'm pretty sure Mrs. Motion and I provide plenty of fodder for the townspeople. We are the ones in town with the Porsche, Mercedes, extensive traveling, the motorcycles, etc. Mrs. Motion dresses like no other in town, and she literally stops people in their tracks. The local police stalk her and will pull her over for any excuse. We have a few close friends in town and we keep it at that. We don't go to the bars and limit our attendance at public events to a few a year. We mostly just keep to ourselves and try to be as private as possible, which isn't easy. Every time I take off on a trip by myself, the rumors start flying that we are having marital problems, I'm running drugs, etc. LOLOL, its actually quite entertaining.

I wouldn't trade it for anything, even though I know that a balance between small town life and the big city is the ideal solution.

masraum · 10-02-2016, 06:44 AM

I don't think I've ever lived in a small town. It's always been suburbs of some larger metropolitan area or a bigger city itself, I think. Tampa, Houston or a suburb of Houston, Pensacola and a small town in NoVA that's basically a suburb of Wash DC. I don't think it could be considered a small town since my HS had 3000 students and my graduating class was ~700. I guess Pensacola isn't exactly the big city, but I don't think it's really what most folks would think of as a small town either. My parents retired to a small town.

I guess when my dad was stationed in Misawa, Japan, that was essentially a small town, but since most folks are rotating through every 2-3 years, it's not quite like the experience that you guys are talking about.

I must admit, the idea of a small town is appealing. If I could move out into the middle of no where, I would be willing to do that, but as long as I'm working, I think it's in my best interest to stay where I am.

There are aspects of big city life that are appealing too. I love that I can decide to have just about any kind of food that you can imagine, and I can go to a restaurant that servers that kind of food. I'm betting that small town American may have a hard time fulfilling my desire for Indian food or various Asian foods or sushi.