I grew up in a small town. I know what you are thinking, "Okay, so her town probably had only two high schools and was kinda boring." Think smaller, think one high school connected to elementary and junior high school. Think one blinking yellow light that no one ever stopped for and an equal ratio of churches to bars. Think two-hour drive to the nearest movie theater, superstore, or anything else remotely cool. We were rural, small, and in the middle of nowhere.
As I have grown up and moved away from such a little community to bigger communities I realized that I was ahead of the game in a lot of ways. I knew how to change a tire, feed cattle, and to brand. However, I had a lot more to learn than I had ever expected.
1. How the heck do I use a turn lane?
Learning to drive with my one yellow light meant that I missed a lot of the big city driving tricks. I had never experienced how to use a real turn lane until I was almost twenty and boy is that embarrassing.
2. Public transportation
On the topic of driving and getting places, wow, is public transportation cool or what? Rural Montana isn't exactly known for its excellent public transportation so I had a lot to learn. The first time I tried to ride the bus I stood on the wrong side of the street like an idiot as the bus flew past me. More than a few times I have had to run across the street or parking lot to make the bus.
3. Fast food is weird
My one stop light town wasn't exactly the hub of fast food restaurants. I had really only eaten fast food a handful of times throughout the year and most of that was Subway. The more I travel and since moving to Boise I have realized how weird fast food is. Growing up, it was treat or convenience on a road trip, not a way of life.
4. The city never sleeps
Now I'm not saying I ever snuck out, but if I had I would have learned just how boring a small town is during the middle of the night. The exact opposite is true in the city! I can go out in the middle of the night and there will be more people on the road than I went to high school with.
5. Sports are just another thing
Being bored in a small town is solved by hard work, alcohol, and sports. Sports a huge part of small rural communities because it doesn't take a lot to have a basketball or volleyball team. These teams are an integral part of the community and the whole town comes to just about every game. We had fan buses that would commute the community members halfway across the state just watch the high school championship game. Although sports are still part of Boise's community there are so many other options that it makes sports just another thing you can join.
6. People love to think their town is small
For me, the most ironic part of moving to the city is that no one here thinks that Boise is a city. People constantly joke that Boise is really just one big small town, but I know better. In comparison to New York or San Diego, Boise is pretty small, but lets be real--its no small town anymore.
