Ah, the joys of growing up in a small town. From the church ladies’ gossip to the common sight of tractors rolling down your street, there’s really nothing like it. Whether you loved it or hated it, here are twenty tell-tale signs that you grew up in small town America.
1. Everyone seemed to know new details about your life before you did.
2. When people ask where you’re from, you name the closest big city because no one would know what you’re talking about otherwise.
3. You probably read the police reports with your friends in the weekly newspaper.
4. There were no ethnic food options whatsoever.
5. If your family was going through a hard time, you could count on your neighbors to show up with a casserole or cookies.
6. Having trouble finding a parking space, and paying to park your vehicle? Unheard of.
7. It was at least a 30 minute drive to the nearest movie theater or Target.
8. You knew the first and last names of everyone you graduated with.
9. And most of those people you graduated with had been by your side since kindergarten.
10. Unless it was a cloudy day, you could always count on seeing the stars at night.
11. You and your friends spent 90 percent of your free time driving around and listening to music, because what else was there to do?
12. Your teachers probably called you by your older siblings’, or even your parents’, names instead of your own.
13. Dating was weird. Maybe you started going out with someone, but their ex was probably your best friend.
14. The closest thing to a traffic jam occurring was getting stuck behind a tractor.
15. You could never make a quick grocery run. Every errand involved chatting with the ten people you knew at the market.
16. You rarely carried a key to your house. Why? Because the door was never locked.
17. You probably had multiple family members living within a 5 minute drive of your house.
18. “Drive your tractor to school day” was a very real thing.
19. You probably couldn’t wait to move away once high school ended.
20. But once you left town, you realized it was a pretty okay place to grow up.