Small town state of mind

Well, last time I briefly delved into people living in small towns. I've primarily lived in small towns most of my life, with perhaps Lubbock, Texas being my only "smaller" town I've been a resident of.

But even with Lubbock, I noticed people to be a bit friendlier than it's big-town counterparts.

Good, friendly people seemed to be the norm in the several small towns that surrounded the resort where my parents and I stayed. My parents would frequently ask locals questions about local attractions, local food, and other questions that most large town people would answer with "look in the phone book," and the locals would assist without hesitation. If we had a map on us, they would trace the path, but even if we didn't, they'd give good directions. A local had recommended Mount Greylock, which perhaps we may never have gone to by ourselves.

Even at the "tourist-y" spots where I'm sure even the friendliest person would tire of all the inconsiderate visitors and grow bitter after awhile, courtesy ruled the day. A shopowner gladly helped when we stopped by, even when my parents showed an interest in a souvenir hedgehog that many might find "tacky."

Besides the friendliness, I also enjoyed the variety in foods in the small towns.

When you live in a big city, you tend to be "stuck" with the same kind of restaurants. It's almost as if city planners think "well, we've got a lot of people, so we'd better keep things familiar as to not offend anyone." And so, Red Lobster, Applebees, Olive Garden, and the like spring up all over the place. Anyone opening a Chinese restaurant, even those with great and varied cooking skills, seems to stick to the same menu. I all gets very boring after awhile. And you only seem to run into "local" restaurants by mistake.

In the small towns, I don't recall once encountering "chain" restaurants, with the exception of maybe McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts (on a side note, Dunkin Donuts ALWAYS seemed to have a line of cars in its drive-thru, even at 2pm). Sure, there were a lot of "Italian" restaurants and "bistros," but they were all locally-owned, and I'm sure, had different menus. On a couple of occasions we went to a local coffee shop for breakfast, where they had fresh-baked goods such as scones and croissants of different varieties. They even had a delicious item called a "cinnamon rose," which was like a cinnamon roll in muffin form (if that makes sense).

Imagine finding a place like that in a large city. It's a difficult task. It would be hard for a place like that to compete with the Starbucks of the world. But I assure you if I did find one like it, I would probably be a regular there. I think it would be great to head to one and enjoy a nice Chai tea while reading a book. Sure, you can do that at a Starbucks, but it's just not the same.

My dad was pleased that we didn't see a Wal-Mart anywhere close to where we traveled. It was all locally-owned stores.

The trip definitely made me long for life in a smaller town. Would I get by without my multi-plex theaters, without my fancy electronics stores? It would be an adjustment I'm sure, but I could probably do it. It would be a small price to pay to live in a town where everyone knows your name (to quote Cheers).