I grew up in a small southern town, however calling it small might be an overstatement. Tiny would probably describe it a little better. The total population of the "Mayberry" I used to call home? Less than 2,000. It only had (and still has) one red-light, and the entire school system consisted of about 1,100 students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. I graduated with 90 people, and had been in the same class with 80% of those 90 people since the second grade. Everyone has met President Jimmy Carter at least a dozen times. And we don't call him President Carter - it's Mr. Jimmy.
Coming from such a slow-paced life, you can imagine the kind of culture shock I experienced when I left the limits of that tiny city and moved to a college town with a population literally 30 time bigger.
There are certain things about small town life some people just won't get unless they came from one. After experiencing life outside of my small town, I've grown to miss certain aspects of it. It had its ups and its downs, but it certainly shaped who I am today. There are a few things many of us used to small town life understand all too well.
1. You were probably related to your teachers or on a first name basis with most of them. I often attended the backyard barbecues of a numerous amount of my teachers and even lived next-door to a few.
2. Everyone you knew went to the same Baptist church every Sunday...
3. And if someone wasn't at church, you knew about by 2pm that afternoon.
4. You weren't considered cool if you didn't hang out with friends in the Walmart parking lot every Friday/Saturday Night.
5. But in order to do that you had to drive thirty minutes to the nearest Walmart because your town was too small for one.
6. Small town politics can get really ugly, really quick.
7. Small town drama was the second best thing to politics.
8. There are more dirt roads in the county than paved ones.
9. Every friend dated the same person/people... more than once.
10. You knew a farmer or two. Maybe twelve.
11. Every kid on the Rec ball team was also on every school related ball team.
12. High school Football in a small town is as important as the NFL and the SEC.
13. Monogrammed everything.
14. If your truck wasn't lifted, what were you doing?
15. Everyone knew your business. Sometimes, even before you did.
16. You can name everyone you graduated with.
17. If you left after high school, not a thing has changed when you return.
18. It will always be home.
