If you are from a small town, you might be confused, or a little thrown off, when you interact with city people. If you are one of those city people, small town living might blow your mind or leave you wondering how one can possibly survive in an environment that has a population of less than 10,000 people.

If you are from the city, your high school was probably huge and there was every big store is just down the road. If you are from a small town, every big store or mall is an hour or more away. “How could one possibly endure such harsh living conditions?” city people might ask.

You know you are from a small town when you can name every person you graduated with. If you are from the city, you might meet a new person every day you go to school. Being able to name everyone in your graduating class is probably nearly impossible.

If you’re from a small town, you have more than likely heard of 4-H or FFA, or have even been a member of these organizations. If you’re from the city, you might think that FFA stands for Future Farmers of America. If you are from a small town, or have ever been a member of FFA, this is one of your biggest pet peeves. (FFA is not just for farmers, it is for anybody interested in agriculture.)

Growing up in a small town, or living outside of town, you might burn everything, like the leaves in your yard after you rake them. I once got rather confused after raking a yard with my “city” friend because I had never seen a brown bag as large as the one she was using. I really threw her off when I questioned her about the bag.

Apparently city people use big brown bags, called yard bags for leaf disposal. She proceeded to ask me what I do with leaves at home after I rake them. “We use a yard rake and then burn them”, I replied.

My family has a burn pile at home. All sticks and leaves visit the burn pile,where they are engulfed in flames, and never seen again.

Speaking of fires, news travels like wild fire in a small town. Everyone knows all the news before it’s published. People typically read the hometown paper just to see if they got the story right.

If you’re from a small town, you can expect seasonal traffic issues. In the city, traffic jams are often caused by accidents due to weather issues. But in a small town, traffic jams are often caused by tractors taking up half of the road. Usually they have plenty of room on the side of the road and could easily pull to the side, but they don’t. In a small town, farmers have the right of way. Farmers in a small town typically have the “we provide the food that is for dinner” mentality.

If you’re from a small town, you have to invent entertainment. There are no movie theatres or malls for hanging out. Small towns can often get quite boring, so one must seek their own form of entertainment. If you are from a small town, you have probably participated in cow tipping or snipe hunting, cruising back roads, or bonfire gatherings.

In conclusion, we small town citizens must stick together. Be proud of your small town and always remember, if you are bored, just enlighten some of your city friends of things that go down in a small town. The looks on their face will be priceless.