Friday, November 21, 2008

Small Town or Big City?

For some reason this week I have been reminded again of the innumerable differences between a small town and big city. Even though I have lived in the city for 2 1/2 years now, I'm just not a city girl. And I'm quite convinced that even if I were to spend the rest of my life here, I would likely never truly become one. Not that there's anything wrong with being a city girl! I mean, truly, I wish I had a little more of it in me at times.

Let me give you a few examples of my city life incompetence. For starters, I drive this:


Our truck is wonderful for camping adventures, hauling wood, extra storage, etc. It is not all that wonderful, however, for parking in parking garages. Or spots designed specifically for compact cars. Or for merging. Or backing up. You get my point. And while I pride myself on being one of very few females I know here who drive trucks, most days I think something like this would be preferable:

Secondly, there's the whole locking doors thing. I'm still not used to that. When I suggested to Dan the other day that maybe we wouldn't have to lock up every time we walk in or out of our home, he looked at me like a crazy person! I just miss getting home and walking right on in the door without having to fumble through 10 different keys. I understand the point (trust me Mom, I lock everything), but I'm just saying...I miss the days when I used to leave the keys in my ignition.

Now here's something I love about living in a city - ACCESS. I have access to pretty much anything I could conceivably want or need, at pretty much any time I happen to have a hankerin (that's a word here). I have tried some rather exotic recipes over the past couple of years simply because I can find all sorts of crazy stuff at the grocery store. My small-town grocery store in Maysville - Dungy's Supermarket - didn't tend to carry much in the ethnic department. Unless you count tortillas.

On the flip side, I really miss the personal touch when I do go shopping. The other day I fought with a machine just to try and return a silly DVD. As I stood there and waited on technology, I thought to myself - if I had rented this from Dungy's, I would have just walked in, said hello to the clerk (who's first name I would know), they would have thanked me by name and asked how my Mom was doing. Or my cat. And they probably would have remembered which movie it was that I had rented.

Another reason I just don't think I'll ever be a city girl: the other day my coworker sought me out to tell me there was a dead possum outside. He was supposed to take care of it - and asked me how I would do it. And I actually gave him advice on how I would dispose of a dead possum.

Maybe next week a co-worker will ask me where I find such cute, trendy shoes...not likely. Sigh.

So what about you? Do you prefer a small town or a big city? And please, let me know if you have any pointers for this poor country girl. Please.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my dear, you make me laugh! Hang on to those country roots - they wil serve you well no matter where you end up! And while sometimes it would be nice to be able to get something more exotic than tortillas (like maybe pocket bread for a change!), tortillas (you're dad pronounces the "L" by the way), are quite versatile! And one more thing, I think you wear very trendy shoes!

Love you!
Mom

kelseylynae said...

I think you know my response on this. I was just thinking about this yesterday because Brent started my car for me before I went to work...and then he stood guard at the window to make sure no one ran off with it before I drove off. Weird.

I was also thinking of this at the video store we go to last night. We rented WALL-E for Brent's birthday (awesome, by the way)...well, when we walked in there weren't any copies left on the shelf. Brent said he would go ask the girl at the counter, and while he was doing that I thought about Dungy's and how I would ask the girl at the counter who had checked out the movie (the ONE copy they have) and then probably just call that person and see if we could borrow it when they were done. (Luckily someone had just dropped off a copy though).

I think about all this stuff often too...maybe I should blog about it as well :) Can't wait to spend time with you guys next week at home...Call you sometime this weekend.

One more thing: you know how sometimes you have to enter word verification below this box in order to post a comment (I think to prevent spam commenting)...well, typically the words are nonsensical-- right now the word below this box is "mooning." Funny.

Jason and Anna said...

I love both! I sometimes can see myself living in NYC or something like that. I love the energy and the diversity in people...the fact that you can have 10 different cultural groups in one place. On the other hand...I think I would get tired of it. I love the outdoors and I think I would have "getaways" often if I lived in a bog city. SLO town is a nice mix! :-)....although I have a "hankering" :-) for something different!!! hehe

Amanda said...

I'm more of a mid-sized city girl myself. I grew up in the San Fran Bay Area (the concrete jungle) then moved to a smallish town in Oregon...then Orange City...then Paris, and now Sacramento. Paris was a bit TOO big for me (metro area 9 million, city limits 2 million). Sac is just about right, with 400K in the city and a metro of 2 million. My one complaint is that I have to drive so much, I'd prefer to walk or take public transport. I love the hustle bustle of the city, but being close enough to "the great outdoors" that I can get a break when it's needed.
That all being said, when the police choppers are flying overhead I find myself missing the safety of little Orange City.