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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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 Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject: Small Town Stories |
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I saw an article about a town (in Arizona or Nevada) that decided to ban foreign flag.
got me thinkin', small towns are full of nuts. But not ordinary nuts, people who are normal but nuts.
While I was doing my teaching internship for uni, I was in a small town in Saskamachawachawant. The supervising teacher of my roomate (another uni student) was despised throughout the school and the town (of about 2200).
One day she (my roomate) was approached by another teacher "So, did you do it?"
"What?" my roomie replied.
"Did you sleep with Doug".
Apparently a rumour had spread to EVERYONE in the town that she had slept with her coteacher.
Being from a small town, it was water off a duck's back for her.
Being from the "big city" (edmonton), I was in freakin' shock. I felt TERRIBLE for her, and for doug (whose wife, in the meantime had left him and he didn't know why). I fu6king HATED that town after that. It took almost two months for the wife to move back and for things to get back to normal.
Holy sheet, if I never go back to that town, I'll be happy.
Does anyone have any small town stories? |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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Small towns are messed up places. I feel bad for parents who move out to them to have kids, and then their kids get messed up in drinking, sex at incredibly early ages, and drugs.
One guy I know from back in Edmonton used to be a drug dealer who would make a fortune by driving out to small towns and selling his drugs at an inflated rate. The supply is low out there so the demand for anything is high. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 4:32 am Post subject: |
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| small towns are full of nuts |
It's my contention that small towns are just big cities that failed to develop. Where big cities have dozens or hundreds or thousands of a kind, a small town has just one or two.
What's the freakin' difference? You don't have more variety of people. You just have more examples of the same kind. The advantage of a small town is that you know their name.
Being anonymous is handy if you are doing something your Mom wouldn't approve of. Otherwise, it's kind of lonely. The biggest single problem for every way-gookin in Korea is isolation. You and your 3 'friends' are just a small town writ tiny. And you probably don't even really like your 3 friends. But at least they speak English. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:32 am Post subject: |
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The advantage of a small town is that you know their name.
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That's an ADVANTAGE? I HATE that people know who I am. I am me and the only people I want to know about me are people that I talk to.
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| You and your 3 'friends' are just a small town writ tiny. And you probably don't even really like your 3 friends. But at least they speak English. |
Ahh. What you're talking about their is a "community".
But that's a bit different if you ask me. I came from a specific community in my hometown (edmonton) that was quite small. I didn't like it.
And just for the record, at no point have I had three friends. I went from no friends (for my fist year) to a few dozen friends.
And one last problem with your analogy is that I would never EVER hang out with people who I thought I wouldn't like or people who would have a problem with the things I do. Call me lame but I don't really like hanging out with people how have problems with me (and vice versa)>
In a small town, you don't have a choice and there are people who are just malicious because they have nothing better to do. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:38 am Post subject: |
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We are going to have to disagree because you are delusional. 
[/quote]Quote:
The advantage of a small town is that you know their name.
That's an ADVANTAGE? (1) I HATE that people know who I am. I am me and the only people I want to know about me are people that I talk to.
Quote:
You and your 3 'friends' are just a small town writ tiny. And you probably don't even really like your 3 friends. But at least they speak English.
Ahh. What you're talking about their is a "community".
But that's a bit different if you ask me. I came from a specific community in my hometown (edmonton) that was quite small. I didn't like it.
And just for the record, at no point have I had three friends. I went from no friends (for my fist year) to a few dozen friends. (2)
And one last problem with your analogy is that I would never EVER hang out with people who I thought I wouldn't like or people who would have a problem with the things I do. Call me lame but I don't really like hanging out with people how have problems with me (and vice versa)>
In a small town, you don't have a choice and there are people who are just malicious because they have nothing better to do.
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To use TUM's phrase, the numbers are mine:
(1) We all live in a small town. We shop in the same few places, walk the same route to work or wherever every day...etc. People may not know the label on your official birth certificate, but you live in a small town. It's just that there are a lot of non-persons clogging your sidewalk.
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I HATE that people know who I am. I am me and the only people I want to know about me are people that I talk to.
[quote]
This is cute. Irrelevant, but cute. What you 'want' and what 'is' are all too often not the same things. Adjust.
Of course it's an advantage to know other people's names. When they start to gossip about you (because you are--or might be--doing something your mother would disapprove of) you can spread rumors about them. Suppose Rabbit starts talking smack about you and what you did last weekend? You can remind everyone how she earned the nickname Rabbit during Prom weekend in 11th Grade.
Surely you don't think that just because the Koreans who live around you don't know your name that they don't gossip about you, do you? Show me a group of people who don't gossip and I'll show you a cemetary.
(2) 'Friends' is a pretty strong word. What I mean is that everyone here puts up with people they wouldn't dump on if they had a terminal case of diarrhea back home. That is just the way it is.
The most interesting thing you say and you say it two times, is that a) you came from a community in Edmonton and b) you have a dozen friends. Seems to me you are saying you came from, and now live in, a small town.
Someone, David Johannson???, said that we only know about 25 people in our circle at any time, just like humans have always done.
Anyway, I know two good contemporary writers who deal with small towns:
Kent Haruf--Plainsong
TR Pearson--A Short History of a Small Place |
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Green Tea
Joined: 04 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:39 am Post subject: |
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What about that small town in the States where it is the law that every resident MUST own a gun 
... I think the towns name was Militiaville, Utah  |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
To use TUM's phrase, the numbers are mine:
(1. Suppose Rabbit starts talking smack about you and what you did last weekend? You can remind everyone how she earned the nickname Rabbit during Prom weekend in 11th Grade.
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Now, now leave my rabbit alone, there's a good Ya-ta. |
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flakfizer
Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: scaling the Cliffs of Insanity with a frayed rope.
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| Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Hey, I'm in one of the biggest cities in the world (seoul), and my wife tells me that the gossip in our apartment building is off the charts. I'm from a small town, and while there is gossip, you also see that if things get too bad for someone in the community, the townspeople lend a helping hand. |
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khyber
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Compunction Junction
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| Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:09 am Post subject: |
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Hey, I'm in one of the biggest cities in the world (seoul), and my wife tells me that the gossip in our apartment building is off the charts. I'm from a small town, and while there is gossip, you also see that if things get too bad for someone in the community, the townspeople lend a helping hand.
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I would agree with that. I can't say that I've been lucky enough to experience it but I could surely see it happen.
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| We are going to have to disagree because you are delusional. Very Happy |
The number of times this gets said to me....wow.
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This is cute. Irrelevant, but cute. What you 'want' and what 'is' are all too often not the same things. Adjust.
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oh don't get me wrong. I have no problem with the "small community" (I'm not saying small town) living of korea. I'm in busan.
If nothing else, the physical geography of the foreign community living in Busan makes the difference from living in busan.
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| When they start to gossip about you (because you are--or might be--doing something your mother would disapprove of) you can spread rumors about them. |
Nothing personal here and I'm not trying to sound self righteous, but I can't do subtle, malicious stuff like that. I just suffer through it and that's the end of it.
I can't get my kicks, or my peace of mind by doing that kinda stuff.
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Surely you don't think that just because the Koreans who live around you don't know your name that they don't gossip about you, do you? |
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The most interesting thing you say and you say it two times, is that a) you came from a community in Edmonton and b) you have a dozen friends. Seems to me you are saying you came from, and now live in, a small town. |
I don't think that a community in a big city AND a small town, act the same way because of the lack, and presents of outside forces.
Here is the difference: In a community, there are communities interacting. Those communities interact in ways and they gossip and try to figure things out about each other.
Because these things happen from an outside source, they aren't too much of a concern of mine. I agree with you, I KNOW that Koreans gossip about me; in the school, in my house, and on the subway: I expect that. And while I'm not a big fan, I half expect that to happen.
But whatever, I'm not really interested in this: My experience in that small town has not been repeated in any big city that I have been in (though i'd wager it has happenned to other people in big cities).
I want to hear other small town stories, whatever they may be. |
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