I'll be honest, there were, without a doubt, some perks to growing up in a small town. Teachers at the schools knew your name and gave you undivided attention. The restaurants were usually local and not part of a chain, so the food was spectacular. Strangers waved as you drove by and you did the same when they drove by. You knew the best place in town to get soft serve ice cream (I may go to school in Vermont, but I will never call it a creemee) and the best place to get pizza. Everywhere you went, there was a familiar face to say hi to.

But that had a flipside to it. It wasn't always a great thing to know everyone. Growing up in a small town wasn't a great experience for everyone, despite all the "XX Signs You Grew Up In A Small Town" posts that make it seem like sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, it kind of sucked.

1. You knew everyone, and everyone knew you.

Forget having any kind of secrets. There may have been a yard-length between you and your neighbors, but they'd be knocking at your door looking for the latest gossip in your family and wondering whose car has been in your driveway lately. They knew every move you made, maybe before you even made it. And once you told them, they told their neighbors who told their neighbors and suddenly the cashier at the local grocery store was asking you about it.

2. Good news really did travel fast.

We've heard the saying time and time again, but it was never more true than for kids who grew up in a small town. One thing happened, and within a day the entire school district knew. Whether it was an unfair punishment, a sick family member or a kid who vandalized school property, there wasn't a single person who didn't know. Even your best friend loved to gossip about the people you were crushing on — so it was pretty much a guarantee that the person you liked would find out.

3. Nobody ever left (except you).

Remember those high school seniors who tormented you as a freshman or the kids in your grade who bullied you? Yeah, they're still there, working as a cashier or busboy somewhere in town. They didn't feel the need to leave, so you still see them all the time. And the ones that did go to college didn't go very far, maybe because they couldn't bare to leave the familiar, cozy setting of your little town (or in my case, village). Meanwhile, you couldn't wait to get out of there and go to school in a different state just so that you wouldn't have to see the same faces for the next four years.

4. Popularity was everything.

Yes, cliques even exist in small schools. And in some ways, it was worse. The popular athletes were the ones who could do whatever they wanted and get away with whatever they wanted because, since the school was so small, they were held on a high pedestal. Small schools craved good athletes to win games and matches in order to make the district seem impressive. So when the athletes did something wrong, something that an average student would have gotten suspended for, it was as if nothing happened. And when it was your word against theirs, well... You can guess who was believed.

5. You could forget dating (unless you met someone from another school).

Let's be honest here. That person you wanted to date most likely dated two of your best friends and was just making their rounds through your friend group. You didn't even want to touch that. Instead, you had to try to go places, like sports games, to meet someone from another school that hadn't been with half of the people you know. And even then, since everyone was looking at other schools, you weren't guaranteed that they hadn't been with someone you knew. (Not gonna lie, I found someone from another state who absolutely no one from my school knew. Best decision ever.)

6. Your entire life was like Personal Drama 101.

Two of your friends suddenly hated each other and pulled you in to pick sides. Someone else was always hating on one of your friends and you didn't know if you should tell them or let it go. Your BBF's SO was cheating on them and you had zero idea how to handle it. You liked someone that someone else liked and then one of their friends accused you of sabotaging their potential relationship. In a small town, there was absolutely no way to stay out of other people's drama. Whether you were directly involved or not, you somehow always ended up in the middle of it.

There were parts of my life from my small town that I wouldn't trade for the world. I loved my house, my yard, being able to draw with chalk in the middle of the road without worrying about getting hit by a car. (My road was so underused that it didn't even deserve lines.) But before you go romanticizing the small town lifestyle, remember that your pros may be someone else's cons. It wasn't great for everyone.