Small town bullshit

[Deleted]

Does anyone else here live in an area so small you can't even fart without it being talk of the town?


how do you deal with the paranoia it causes and having to watch every word you say, then stressing out that every comment someone makes to you is at your expense and is based on all the rumours, half truths, truths, Chinese whispers and downright bullshit that you know is going on?

[Deleted]

Why would you even care?

[Muskrat]

I live in a town of 400 people, and it's a definite issue with the older people in the community, but most of us under 40 are a pretty tight group so we shut down alot of the bullshit like that. Definitely a different community then when I first moved here 15 years ago and there was alot of the really petty smalltown shit.

[Push R Truth]

It's sometimes fun to head to the local yokel coffee table and find out more about yourself than you yourself knew.


For instance I live in a small town of a little over 1000 people. I had fairly extensive jaw surgery and lost 40lbs so far because I can only drink liquids. Apparently according to the gossip patrol, I have cancer and look ill because my chemotherapy is taking it's toll.

My grandmother didn't believe me when I told her it wasn't true.

It's worth a laugh.

[DjZonk]

I'd hate to live in a town so small that everybody knows your business. But then if I did, I wouldn't speak to anybody anyway. Let them all stir up how quiet and miserable I am.

[Dr. T is an alien]

I grew up in a town of about 3000. I hated it so much. It was made worse by the fact that I would go out to Portland, OR to be at my mother's for the Summer and around Christmas every single year, allowing me to see what bigger city life is like. I suppose if I had been popular in the small town it might have been different, but when you are the scrawny kid who gets bullied by all of the kids in a small town you tend to get bullied by the adults in that town as well, including the teachers at the school (my baby brother, 12 years younger than me, once got suspended for cussing out a teacher he overheard making a joke about me 8 years after I graduated. I thought the kids I went to school with were immature, but that is ridiculous). While it took me a while to get away, I have never looked back. I don't go to class reunions (not that I get invited half of the time). I visit family from time to time and get out of town as fast as my car will take me when I am done.

One thing that growing up in that environment will do for you is that it will insulate you from caring what other people think of you. My wife would worry from time to time when we got into fights with my stepson that the neighbors would be bothered. I don't. She gets upset when I called the cops to come resolve some of the situations because she did not want the neighbors to see the cops at our house. I don't care.

[Unaffiliated]

That's top of the list of why I would prefer to live in a big city. I guess I am kind of uncaring and asocial, but I want a place I can disappear into with no one having to care about me.

[Lupin the Third]

I remember a story I heard from my best friend about me when I was back in college. Apparently I was going out with a high school freshman while being a junior in college.

That's why I'm glad that my parents lived 5 miles out of town so we didn't have to deal with that crap. I really don't talk to very many people in that town anymore. Including many former classmates and such.

[Digital Witness]

I grew up in a place that was big enough that I never had this sort of issue. My mom and her siblings did however live in a smaller town and I've heard some craptastic stories of the stuff they had to deal with on a regular basis.

[Surfer Sandman]

That's why you leave home.

All that small town shit disappears in a heartbeat.

[Deleted]

My hometown is like that.

It's angering, but it's also kind of touching in a way.

These people need you in their life, even if that just means pinning nonsense on you.

[Deleted]

Dec 26, 2014 15:20:46 GMT -5 Surfer Sandman said:

That's why you leave home.

All that small town shit disappears in a heartbeat.

yeah I think living in a city for a few years made me more aware of it all.


In fact coming back from the city (because I diddn't have much other choice) seemed to be where it all began, became the talk of the town and yeah like another poster said some of the rumours were hillarious, but it still didn't stop the paranoia because most people I speak to it becomes apparant are well aware of who I am and every single silly rumour up to actual information about my life. it's quite a horrible feeling that doesn't help with anxiety and causes such paranoia


And I'm on about a town somewhere just over 10,000 population. I'd dread to think of what it would be like in one of 3000 let alone 400

[Deleted]

I didn't like growing up in a small town. Like there's quite a few things I do miss but it felt like I barely had any privacy being in a small town.

[Mackenzie Gorn]

Living in a Lonely World.

[jagilki]

Town of 3,000 in the least populated state in the US.

I just don't give a flying smurf what people say about me. Why should I?

[Raskovnik]

I am very happy to live in a city. I know a lot of people, but not even a tiny fraction of the total population.

[triplethreatmark]

Dec 26, 2014 17:40:31 GMT -5 Raskovnik said:

I am very happy to live in a city. I know a lot of people, but not even a tiny fraction of the total population.

I was just about to say that. This is one of the perks of growing up in Southern California.

[Nikki Heyman]

I only had to deal with that crap in my small schools (neither had more than 300 students, total)

And they weren't afraid to whisper it behind my back, either. They said it to my face, laughed, and walked away.

[Raskovnik]

Dec 26, 2014 17:44:54 GMT -5 triplethreatmark said:

Dec 26, 2014 17:40:31 GMT -5 Raskovnik said:

I am very happy to live in a city. I know a lot of people, but not even a tiny fraction of the total population.

I was just about to say that. This is one of the perks of growing up in Southern California.

I'm in NorCal, Sacramento to be precise, but it's also something I enjoyed about my time down there.

[mizerable]

That's basically where I'm at right now due to my job.

And unlike other places I have worked in bigger cities, it seems to be a completely different beast. I hate it sometimes, but only stick around due to other places not even coming close to the pay that I get now.

And the topper is I just had my job evaluation. I've been there 5 years and my boss said in so many words I might not be there in 6 months unless I make improvements. Now, whereas strong work ethic and determination to be there could get you far in a bigger city environment, here they label it as arrogance because I not happy go lucky all the time. On top of that, they keep other employees staffed due to fearing they'd play them for unemployment, yet make vague threats to me without pointing out a single strongpoint I've had in this time, considering I work the most hours and put the company first. They don't like this for some reason, they always imply I shpuld take time off or use vacation time. They also complain I don't smile enough or run promotions for the 25 people who work under me, despite them working enthusiastically while I supervise them. In any other job I have had in bigger cities, I would be their dream employee due to low maintenance it takes to accomplish the task.

And on top of things, they did find out a personal thing about me due to it being a small town that would have otherwise not mattered. They expected ME to be open about it despite sitting on that knowledge for months and it not even being relevant to my job. I mean after 5 years, should there really be trust issues?