Recently I’ve been pondering the differences between the big city and the not-so-big city.  Or how ever you would classify Waco, TX.  Technically, there are over a 100,000 people there… so it is classified as a Metropolis. And there are some rough poverty-stricken inner city type areas. I taught for two years at an inner city junior high.  But somehow, Waco maintains that small town feel.

This is evident any time you spend any significant amount of time around town.  You will almost always run in to people you know.  And even if you just had lunch with them the day before, the etiquette for these encounters is to have a significant conversation of some kind.  Katie and I have run into some friends a few times that we ended up eating dinner with.  These chance encounters can end up lasting the rest of the day.  That is normal.

In the big city, I think we have ran into people we know maybe four times in the last 4 years.  And it really seems to freak people out when that happens.  They just really don’t know what to do half the time, it seems.  And even when they do realize that it is okay to speak to an acquaintance that you randomly run in to (it seems like this is a big step), they say about two sentences, apologize for taking up your time, and walk the other way.

So I’ve decided to just be my country boy self and strike up a long conversation with people when I run in to them, even if it really makes them squirm.  Its all part of being friendly and all… but it is also why people rarely leave small towns.  And many that do come back after a while.  So many of my friends from high school either never left the Waco area, or left for a while and then came back.  As much as they liked the benefits of the big city, they just missed the small town community.

I have to admit that I do sometimes, also.  But not enough to move back to Waco 🙂

—————-
Now playing: Van Halen – Jump
via FoxyTunes