Small Town, USA

When Eric and I were dating, he used to speak with great affection of the small towns where he grew up. He would list off the perks of small town living -- like crossing paths with neighbors in the grocery store, personally knowing at least half the people at church, being on a first-name basis with the guy in the hardware store, and just generally being able to meld the worlds of home and work and worship. I was very unimpressed.

While there have always been things I've disliked about city living (first and foremost the traffic), I loved the privacy of a crowd. For instance, I enjoyed rolling out of bed on Saturday morning and grocery shopping in sweats and flip flops without any make-up on. But heaven forbid I'd run into anyone I knew while doing so! I also liked dropping into cute boutique stores just to browse the aisles after a frustrating day at work. I rarely purchased anything, though, so why would I want the sales clerks to know me? Surely they'd just scowl and say, "Back again? Are you going to spend any money this time, huh?" Bleh. As for church, well, the whole fellowship aspect just made me uncomfortable.

Yes, I enjoyed every way in which I was autonomous and could keep to myself in the middle of a big city. First Dallas. Then Denver. But -- slowly -- since moving to our tiny southwest town, I've started warming up to the small town. First there were the friends we made at church. I started looking forward to chatting with them for a few minutes after Mass. Then there were the retail clerks: "Your husband was just in here this morning and I told him we don't carry what ya'll are looking for. Try the new dollar store. By the way, how's Amy doing?" (Anyone who asks after Amy is on my good side!) And now there's the gotta-love-'em lines I hear when I'm introduced to people: "Oh, you're that lady who walks her baby all the time, aren't you? I see you go past my house everyday," and "Wasn't your baby wearing that onsie yesterday?" (I promise I am not making this up!) or "Hi. I go to your church. You know, you should join the choir again. We miss your husband's singing." And, of course, "Oh, your husband is the new guy in the math deparement, isn't he?" It all still feels a little stalker-ish... but in general this small town stuff is starting to grow on me!