Adjusting to small town life.

[Tomasso]

One man's gossip is another man's news.... .

I think that there's a difference between the two. For instance: Mary getting a promotion at work is news. Mary sleeping with her boss to get the promotion is gossip.

 

[Kishtu]

I think that there's a difference between the two. For instance: Mary getting a promotion at work is news. Mary sleeping with her boss to get the promotion is gossip.

I'm not sure - from personal experience anyway. Mary sleeping with her boss to get a promotion, if it doesn't affect anyone except Mary, is pure Hello! magazine tittle-tattle. If Mary has a husband or a family who might need the support of their friends and neighbours when it all goes horribly wrong a couple of months down the line, it's news. Not suggesting that idle gossip is a good thing, but sometimes what's gossip in a comunity where the information isn;t going to be acted on, is news in a smaller community where it makes a difference to how you behave with someone.

(Hmmm, sounds like I live in the unexpurgated version of "The Scarlet Letter"...)

Another illustration, gossip "Joe lost his job because of his drinking".... in our town Joe's wife and kids would probably get cut a bit of slack as far as paying for their groceries at the shop until the end of the month.

 

[Pompidou]

The thing with small town gossip is it has consequences. It'll get around fast to the person being gossipped about and then you'll be called to account, and you'll have no way to vanish into the anonymity of the crowd. Small towns force you to own your words -- and you have to be willing to say to a person's face anything you'd say behind their back. Those of us born in small towns learn this from a young age, but people from away have to learn it thru sad experience.

I live in a really small town and it's pretty much exactly this. There are no secrets. My home away from home is the local bar, and well, not knowing what's going on just isn't possible. The people of Plainfield, CT have what amounts to a collective/hive mind of rumors and gossip.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

As do I. The town I work in is small-ish, but growing, at around 10,000 people. I consider Pardeeville, where I live, to be a small town, at just over 2,000 people. I was just telling one of the supervisor the only thing our plant produces more of than cheese is rumors.

Funny, but I've always associated gossiping to small towns more so than cities. [huh]

This is the great thing about a small town. You should behave and you should mind your P's and Q's. You get a reputation real fast in a small town. That has ups and downs. I can go anywhere in Portage or Pardeeville and someone there's gonna know me. It's a nice feeling, that.

Been thinking a lot about this thread. I guess my take on small town living is that it forces you to act appropriatly. If you want to be a part of the community and be respected there is no room for arrogance, or being cocky, or gossiping or anything other behavior we associate with declining standards. You have to keep in mind that people are going to see you, know who you are and are going to judge you. Also, you are going to come into contact with a lot of people that you would avoid if you lived in a city. As a result, you just have to accept people and treat them as you would want to be treated. When think of the perfect small town persona I think of Atticus Finch. He always looked at things from the point of view of other people.

 

[Doublegun]

A peek into what happens in the digital age in a small town when people can remain anonymous:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/us/small-town-gossip-moves-to-the-web-anonymous-and-vicious.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=us

 

[Tomasso]

A peek into what happens in the digital age in a small town when people can remain anonymous:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/us/small-town-gossip-moves-to-the-web-anonymous-and-vicious.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=us

Funny you wouldn't see city folks doing that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I thought that was the whole reason the Internet was invented.

 

[Tomasso]

Damn you, Al Gore .....

 

[rue]

^ lol

 

[Kishtu]

Just thought I'd share this as a further example of rural charm.... every week the Hairy Bloke and Small see the refuse collectors working in our little town and wave and as small boys for generations have done admire the dustcart's workings.... yesterday the same team was working in our county town emptying the big commercial containers and when they saw him they waved and said hello and invited him to come and have a look at the BIG truck.

They remembered one little boy that they see once a week. That's small-town life for you....

 

[Doublegun]

This is the Topix page from my hometown. Warning: it's pretty ugly.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/winchester-in

 

[Miss sofia]

How sweet!!

I live in a small town and recently decided to put items in my front garden for people to buy if they wish as i live on a main road and i'm too bone idle to cart them up to work. I put out a chaise-longe which needed reupholstering with a note on to put the money through the door and a childrens' bike, both nice items. And guess what, they did!!

I also left my front door keys in the front door overnight as i was three sheets to the wind and they were still there in the morning!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

When I was a kid, we lived out on the farm and I'd go for walks around all the other farms and talk to the other farmers. When I was 8 years old, I had been running some of the farm equipment for a few years and the neighbors would tell me "Hey, so and so told me your Daddy said you're pretty good with a tractor, wanna give me a hand?" or something like that, and they'd have me come drive tractor, or something to help them out during planting and harvesting, depending on the time of the year. I miss those days.

 

[Miss sofia]

I bet Tom, but at least you have the memories and that's priceless in my books. Luckily we lived in a rural farming community when my son was small and he got to ride on the tractor and put the sheep through the dipper. Things he doesn't appreciate now as a slightly grumpy 12 year old, but which he certainly loved at the time.

 

[DNO]

This is the Topix page from my hometown. Warning: it's pretty ugly.
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/winchester-in

Ugly probably doesn't go far enough. Very creepy. I think I'll just stay in my city for now.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

When I was a kid, we lived out on the farm and I'd go for walks around all the other farms and talk to the other farmers. When I was 8 years old, I had been running some of the farm equipment for a few years and the neighbors would tell me "Hey, so and so told me your Daddy said you're pretty good with a tractor, wanna give me a hand?" or something like that, and they'd have me come drive tractor, or something to help them out during planting and harvesting, depending on the time of the year. I miss those days.

In many ways it is often said, if you are looking for someone that knows how to work and work hard, hire someone that was raised on a Farm, and I know that is so very true!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvO6d-ba1Bc&feature=player_embeddedI need to get my camera fixed and take some pictures of the city I live in now, Marshall, Michigan. They have a really great section of the main down town that still looks like the late 1800's, and is not doing too badly on the business side of things. There is a "circle fountain" at the one end of the down town section and we have a horse carriage that takes people around, a small walk in theater and one half black off the main drag is the Franke Center, which has been used for a number of very classic stage plays and performances, (I was Married in the Franke Center, and it was awesome).

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Here is a Christmas time picture of one of the homes in my neighborhood.

 

[rue]

Wow! Beautiful home

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Yes indeed. Marshall downtown is mostly homes that are kept up to have this appearance, and it is considered a historical site. We have a annual "home tour" and events in the area that take place year round.

In the warmer weather, we have historical car shows, blues festivals, ren festivals, and all the normal nicer small town parades. Before Lansing was the State Capital, Marshall was being considered for it, but for some reasons, they decided Lansing was to be the location. It may have worked for the best, as Marshall continues to hang on no matter what, and is not clouded by the modern building that befalls some areas.