17 Things You Know to Be True If You Hail From a Tiny Town

People often ask me where I'm from, and first I say Ohio. Then they want to know where, and I always say, "It's a small town, you've never heard of it." Some people think they know Ohio well enough to ask for the name of the town, and when I tell them Orrville, they give me that blank stare I've come to know and loathe.

Love it or hate it, it's a known fact that if you live in a small town, you know every single other person in town. That also means they all know you and probably all your business.

Not that my parents would love it if I was out in the middle of the night, but there was never really a concern with safety in a small town. I could easily walk the dog at midnight when I was bored and know nothing would happen.

I don't know what it is about small-town life, but it meant that manners were important. Your parents and grandparents absolutely made sure you had them. To this day, you probably still hold doors open for people, say please and thank you, and respect your elders. Good on you.

If you still live in your small town, you might just be married to your high school sweetheart. If you escaped your small town, well, you might still be married to your high school sweetheart, but chances are, you aren't, yet you know several people who are.

I recall my parents always saying our local grocery store was so expensive, and relatively speaking, it is compared to places like Walmart or Target (which we did not have in town). But when I first moved away to a larger metro area, I couldn't believe how expensive groceries were. Now that I live in New York, I dream of going back to my hometown grocery store and spending half as much on food.

Even though I moved away from my tiny town more than a decade ago, everyone back there still knows what I'm up to now, thanks to my mom and thanks to everyone keeping tabs on everyone.

There weren't very many of you, so that's not a surprise. I think there were 120 in my class.

Every year we had Fair Day off, literally the Monday after Labor Day, so everyone could go and enjoy the county fair. We also had cancellations when our school sports teams made it to the state championship games.

We only ever locked our doors at night, but we would park our cars in the driveway and not lock them. It wasn't until I moved away that I realized that wasn't really normal. Now whenever my dad drives to New York, I have to remind him to remove everything from view inside the car and lock the damn doors when he gets out because this is New York City and not podunk Ohio.

I only saw one doctor the whole time I lived in my small town — unless he was on vacation and we had an emergency. Seriously, from birth until the time I moved, one guy. If I went back now and needed a doctor, it would be the same guy.

In my small town, my house was the one with the pool, so it wasn't surprising when neighbors and people we were friendly with would drop by to swim on hot days. You see, when everyone knows everyone, you just feel kinda comfortable doing that.

I'm happy to report that this never happened to me, because I was never, ever pulled over in my town (or the entire state, for that matter), but I witnessed it firsthand. Of course the cops know your parents, so of course they'll give them a call when you're driving too fast or without a seatbelt.

As much as I love New York and want to stay here forever, I'm still so glad that I grew up in a small town that I can go back and visit. It's a great escape from the hustle and bustle of everywhere else in this country.