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Small Town Goodbye

Running into people you know is a very common thing that anyone experiences. However in the Midwest, or when you are from a small town, this is a dreaded thing.

You normally have to build time into your schedule in the high chance you run into someone. You are then forced to talk for at least 20 minutes about how your family is doing, any popular gossip, and much more. Then you will be saying goodbye to that person for at least 15 minutes. 

My family goes to a grocery store across the river to avoid seeing people we know!

As a child I always hated having to go to someone’s house to drop something off, because my mother or grandmother would stand there and talk for at least an hour and a half. I would be stuck outside in the heat or in the car bored out of my mind.

I always said as a child I would never get stuck like that, yet I have been in that situation more times than I can count on both hands. 

Going to the grocery store will always be a dreaded chore when I am back in my hometown. Going to pick up your prescription at the pharmacy is also a common area to run into someone. 

Just remember when times are tough you could always be stuck doing a midwest goodbye!

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Small Town Stereotypes Misrepresented in Film

There are many TV shows and movies that love to talk about small towns or have the plot set in a small town. A very popular genre would be romcoms and any Hallmark movie that comes out during the year. They make small towns seem exciting, filled with flair, and much more. However, most of the time there are just tumbleweeds blowing on by. 

HALLMARK PLOT 

Every Hallmark movie has a successful man or woman get put in a small town that is incredibly far away from any major cities. The successful person hates it since there are bugs and barely any wifi. Then they meet the local “hottie” and start to fall in love, but they are in massive denial. Does it make my heart flutter every time, yes of course it does. Here are some of the best Hallmark movies made, specifically the Christmas themed ones. 

However, in a legitimate small town there is no local “hottie” as seen in the Hallmark movies. The single bachelor men normally are always regulars at the local bar, have been divorced too many times, and drive the same old rusty truck. 

GILMORE GIRLS 

Gilmore Girls was a popular TV series in the early 2000’s however it does misrepresent a small town life. Everyone is quite friendly and in the town of Stars Hollow there are constantly different events happening. Most small towns have a couple of parades a year and it is normally for all the different patriotic holidays.

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Small Town Juicy Gossip

One of the fun things about being in a small town is how crazy the gossip can be. When you live in the middle of nowhere it can be quite boring, but what makes life entertaining is the local gossip. As someone who was constantly being watched in the town you can think you are being sneaky but someone knows. People would call my mother to let her know that they saw me at the store or out at the park with friends even though she knew what I was doing. 

We have a small town newspaper that covers the county and it will put out all the people that have been arrested that week. You will be able to find tons of dirt on people just through the newspaper. Also it helps when you are friends with one of the reporters.

There is always gossip about someone cheating on their spouse with this person because they always make the rookie mistake of not leaving town to cheat. You will see public drug deals happening for the high schoolers, and the cops could care less so they just drive right on by. You have the local bar fights that are always entertaining.

There is the stereotype that when you are in a small hick town people hook up with their cousins, but in my town people hook up with their step brothers/sisters. You read that correctly. That is some of the juiciest gossip of all. 

Lastly there is always school drama with someone making a kill list, or threatening to blow up the high school, or bringing a knife to school. We also have a popular story about the private school and how thousands of dollars went missing and the principal was fired on the first day of school. Makes you think quite a bit.

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Small Town Community

One of my favorite qualities about living in a small town is the community. Everyone knows each other and becomes family. There is the metaphor about being able to go to your neighbors and ask for a cup of sugar, and that metaphor really comes to life in a small town. That metaphor is saying how you can ask or give without expecting anything back. In a bigger city that is not always the case. 

When someone in town gets incredibly sick everyone comes together to raise money or take turns dropping off food. When my grandfather was going through chemo all of the other teachers donated their sick days to him so he could still be getting paid for the days that he was missing. Something like that is a huge gesture and means a lot to the family when going through a hard time. Knowing that you aren’t alone and you have so many people at the ready to help you is comforting. 

My small town recently had a huge storm that caused almost everyone to lose power for five or more days. People who did have power set up a breakfast, lunch, and dinner station for people to come get a fresh home cooked meal. The family that did that started it on their own with their personal money, but many donated. It is little things that my community does that makes me miss home quite a bit. 

If you are ever thinking of moving to a small town just be prepared to have your family expand and more support than ever!

This photo is from a golf tournament that was happening to raise money for the private school in my town! These are some of the people that came together to make the event happen!

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What a Teenager’s Life in a Small Country Town Looks Like!

Being a teenager is supposed to be such a fun time in your life. As a child you watch all the movies about sneaking out and doing all sorts of crazy things, however try doing that in a small town. Everyone knows each other and if you are seen out at late plenty of people will snitch on you. If you get caught by the police doing something they will give you the lecture on how they know your parents raised you better, and they think it will mean more since they have known your family for decades. 

To entertain yourself as a teenager in a small country town you will find most teenagers just going out on drives on the backroads with no destination. You start driving when the sun is still up and then watch the sunset behind the acres of corn and continue to drive even when it is pitch black out. We will happily waste all of our gas instead of just sitting in the house. Maybe you will have a destination like Walmart and goof off in there for a bit. Another fun option is driving to the nearest gas station which is most likely only a couple of blocks down the road, but you get a gas station slushy just to feel something. When you go on these drives they are either really calming or it will be the most reckless activity. The music choices will either be country music or rap. There is no in between for these drives. 

At least during the school year you can look forward to going to all the sporting events, but there are plenty of times when the games are at least two hours away. Most of the time people will still go to those far away games, because they don’t have anything better to do. Then everyone drives back and meets up at the “cool” house to drink some beers and talk about the recent town gossip. For having a smaller town population there is still plenty of gossip.

As boring as it can seem to other people, looking back on those moments I am grateful for my small town life. Below is a photo from my favorite spot in town to watch the sunset.  

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Howdy!

I am Bella a 20 year old student at Chaminade University but I am originally from a small town in southern Illinois. There are certain aspects about living in a small town that don't happen in every place.

Those traditions is something that shaped me into the little country girl that I am now! Follow along to learn about a small town country girl's life!