'When you enter a restaurant, everyone turns to see who’s coming in...'
People Who Moved From Large Cities To Small Towns Are Opening Up About The Culture Shock They Experienced, And It's Giving"We're Not In Kansas Anymore"When people discuss culture shock, it's usually in the context of an American moving to a foreign country or vice versa; however, there are also moments of culture shock when someone who has lived in a"big" city their entire life moves to a small town.
I wrote to the mayor explaining that this was a ridiculous policy given that I'm a resident who pays taxes and should be able to take advantage of a public institution without having another person vouch for me. No dice. To his credit, the mayor at least wrote back, but I still didn't get a library card."
"When you enter a restaurant or bar, everyone turns to see who’s come in. At first, it was off-putting, but you later realize they’re looking to see if it's someone they know.""I've lived in a small town for a while, and I do it now, too — turn to look and see if it’s someone I know. There's usually a good chance that it is.
And he wasn't unique; this happened with everything. Sometimes, the postman would just drop everyone's mail and leave it. We often found our neighbor's mail dumped in our yard. Once, I had to explain to a cop why I stopped when he turned on his lights. I was not accustomed to this fake 'niceness,' especially after spending 25 years of my life in New England, where people are blunt, and you know right away where you stand with them. These people cared too much about their public persona and how their peers perceived them. As someone who couldn't care less about the opinions of others, it was a lot of pressure for me.
A recent bit of 'advice' was when she lectured me on being careful while on a trip to Singapore because it’s 'dangerous there with everything happening in China.' She didn't realize Singapore is not Hong Kong, and it’s a completely different, incredibly safe country far from China. But thanks for the pro tip, I guess."
The day after I moved in, there was a funeral for someone who lived in the town. Every store closed for the day, the bar opened at six o'clock, and everyone in town stopped by.. Once, an older lady burned a pie and caught her stove on fire. She put it out with a fire extinguisher, so there was no damage, and the oven still worked. But for three days, I was involved in conversations about how 'Mrs. M must have dementia. She's normally a great baker.
"At one point, the former mayor told me that she never wanted the town to grow to over 10,000 residents and was glad that a big business didn't open up there. It boggled my mind that so many people actively would prefer that there be no jobs because it'd keep the town smaller.
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