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rural life
I was left gobsmacked when I moved to other, less metropolitan places.
People who live near the ocean stop to smell the roses.
It's true. I've seen them do it.
And people in places like North Carolina say "Hi" to strangers.
It's fascinating and a tad unnerving.
In NY, if a stranger says "Hi," they can come off as some form of alien life.
The distrust runs deep in city life.
And the hustle and bustle is a real daily experience.
I can't pick a favorite, though.
Redditor rjroa21 wanted to hear about the biggest differences between city and rural life, so they asked:
"Rural folks, what are the things city folks won't understand?"
Traffic Issues
"Legitimately being late for school or appointments due to being stuck behind a tractor."
- Bimblelina
"I would always leave my house super early when it was planting season and harvest season."
- Sadimal
Judy Garland Musicals GIFGiphy
MOOOO!!
"I own a house that sits smack in the middle of three cattle farms."
"The other night, I took my dog out to pee well after dark."
"There was a weird noise and a pair of glowing eyes at the end of my driveway. It was, of course, a cow."
"I called my neighbor to the North. He drove his UTV down, inspected the cow, didn't recognize it, and called my neighbor to the south."
"He sent his teenage son over in a car with no catalytic converter/muffler. He also didn't recognize the cow."
"Finally, my neighbor from the West was summoned on his ATV. It was his cow."
"The rest of us stood there drinking beer and watching the Western neighbor drive his cow home with an ATV."
"Good times."
- EarhornJones
No Service
"Driving home in a storm. A tree fell across the road in front of us (Mom and daughter). The truck behind us got their chainsaws out of their toolbox and moved that tree within 15 minutes. Also, there is no cell service everywhere. Only one service works consistently from my house."
- iam2s
"Further, winter driving."
"Roads aren't going to get plowed as quickly as it does in the city, so you learn to drive on unplowed snow if you ever want to get anywhere during the winter."
- TL10
Save the Veggies
"Leaving your car windows closed at church in the summer so you don't come back out to a car full of Zucchini."
- Armyjeepguy
"There’s no escaping the zucchini. It will be left on the hood, or the roof or the gardener will straight up accost you after mass and shove a bag of it into your arms, or trick your children into bringing bags of it out to the car."
- MrsMeredith
"This is exactly the example I use to explain to people the difference between the city and the country. If you live in the country the only reason you lock your doors to your car is that people don’t put vegetables in it. No one believes it’s not a joke."
"And on the topic of cars unlocked- my dad would open up someone’s car and cut off their headlights for them if they were left on. I swear every time we’d go to town there’d be one. When we moved to the city I told him he had to stop doing that because he is liable to end up clobbered. He mostly only stopped though cause everyone locks their cars."
- Overall_Midnight_
Know the Enemy
"You or someone you know has a personal vendetta against a wild animal in the area."
- NFL_MVP_Kevin_White
"Oh my gosh yes. My dad's at war with a woodpecker. He’s even printed out an info pamphlet on woodpeckers and wrote in big letters 'Know thy enemy.' The amount of whirligigs and nets around the house is insane."
- jbird8806
"I am rural (small town, not a farmer), and am also a security guard."
"I got a vendetta against this small fu*king bird that keeps getting into the local golf club through the roof and setting off the alarm."
- Gorganzoolaz
Bambi???
"Weird noises in the woods? Deer. Glowing eyes in the shadows? Deer. Something following you down a dark country road? Deer. It's always f**king deer."
- BlueLizardSpaceship
"Except for that one time, it wasn't a deer. Thankfully, that cougar was not really focused on us. Probably focused on a deer. Oh s**t. It was the f**king deer then!"
- thatsandichic
adventure time hands GIFGiphy
Plan Ahead
"You need to carefully plan out your shopping needs because that trip to Walmart or Home Depot might be a two-hour round trip."
- lockednchaste
"Moving rural taught me how to cook. I had to build up a well-stocked pantry and freezer because the grocery store was an hour away. I had to learn how to plan meals because you needed to know what to thaw out. I learned so many substitutions because sometimes you just didn't make it to town and the milk, eggs, butter or what have you ran out. All that also got me more comfortable just throwing skillet dinners together because sometimes there just isn't time for recipes, but I knew what worked well together."
"Also, canned and frozen foods. Fresh produce is only good for the first few days after grocery day."
- HplsslyDvtd2Sm1NtU
Hey George
"Having your name and age listed in the local newspaper when you’re pulled over for speeding, and your family/friends get to give you s**t for it because everyone lives to read the weekly police report.
- Enthoosed
"I was working in a small rural area and was listening to the local radio station. The announcer came on and said that George was having a garage sale. That's all he said, no address or anything else. I asked the farmer I was working with about that. He said that everything knows George and where he lives. I then asked is there only one George that lives here? He said nope, there was another George in the next town over, but he was a newcomer, and they called him by his last name."
- Awareness-Own
Big Oink!
"Full-grown pigs are massive and terrifying. And they can and will eat someone if ever they get the opportunity."
- Heroic-Forger
"Accurate. Thunderstorm one summer evening. He couldn’t see well but still.. rammed me. HARD. I fractured my kneecap due to my show pig. My collies kept him away from me while my dad rushed home to get me to the hospital. There were few bites from the pig too, but the dogs kept him clear of me, and he was dinner later that night."
- catie2696
Strays
"There is no animal control out where I live and no shelters within 100 miles that will take strays. If you dump your cat or dog, they will be eaten by a predator, starve to death, or be shot."
- Swift_cat
"Yup. Your badly trained and unsocialized high-energy dog breed does not need to 'go find a farm to live on.' If you dump him in the countryside, he will get shot trying to eat someone's livestock or be killed by livestock guardian dogs."
"Either give your dog the training they need or get on a waitlist to surrender with a rescue or shelter. Don't dump your animal in a rural area and expect it to end any better than if you were suddenly trying to be Bear Grylls without planning, gear, or a map."
"Just putting your dog down is a kinder fate than dumping them and leaving them to die of exposure, starvation, or violence."
- LostDogBoulderUtah
The Lifespan
"Country life is slower than your lifespan."
"City, you can go year after year seeing new buildings pop up, business, events, etc."
"Country life... same county fair every year, maybe a new building every 10 years, new business 5 years."
- Sabre_One
"Same people too. In the city, if you get into an argument with a crackpot at your coffee shop, you can find another coffee shop."
"Out in Small Towns, you have to tread real carefully around every weirdo that you share a post office with. Feuds, beefs, and resentments run deep. Generationally deep. "
- Reg_Broccoli_III
Passing By
"People waving when two cars pass from opposite directions."
- Chaosinmotion1
"So growing up and learning to drive, for some reason I sort of missed on this. I was driving to the Dutch bakery and mom told me to wave at the person driving toward us so I gave them a big ol' happy wave. Made my mom bust up and then I learned she meant what you described above."
- Mrs0Murder
Cookie Monster Hello GIF by Sesame StreetGiphy
Pray for Rain
"Weather changes your life. I've sat on the porch with my parents watching hail destroy our wheat crop days before it was due for harvest. There's nothing you can do. You just watch. I've also stood in a circle with my parents and older brother in the yard while we prayed for rain. For farmers, weather is destiny."
- Cranialscrewtop
"I took an English lit class in college and we read a journal of a woman in the 1860s. Several people were really turned off by how much she wrote about the weather. As the only farm kid in the class, I tried to explain to them how much of your life is dictated by the weather. Most of them just stared at me like I was nuts."
- msjammies73
Iowa
"I'm reminded of my time at the University of Iowa. A fellow I knew, a grad student age, but he wasn't actively attending, walked with a cane because of his leg. He'd broke it when he was a child, but he'd tell anyone who asked that he was mauled by a sow."
"He said the city people would just laugh it off as a joke. The country people would look at him in horror and say, "And you're still alive?!?!'"
- DrHugh
"Having to explain to my kid why everyone was so scared when Dorothy fell into the pig pen in Wizard of Oz was surreal. I can't even remember when a healthy fear of swine was instilled into me."
- tikierapokemon
Brutal Beauty
"Nature is brutal and so are animals. That eagle is so majestic in the city, but out here I am cursing its existence for f**king up my chickens. Bears are so cute, but they are annoying as hell trying to get into the shed where we have to lock up our garbage cans. Deer are so beautiful, but those freaking a**holes eat every freaking leaf off of a fruit tree sapling and kill it, not to mention all the destruction they will do if your veggie garden fence isn't high enough."
- No_Instance4233
Silence
" Peace and quiet. An aunt from the city stayed and couldn't sleep as it was too quiet."
"It was the opposite for me. I'm from the city and was staying with family in a rural area. I was sleeping in the basement, so I had no idea what time of the day it was. Some of the best sleep I ever had.
- MashedPotatoes*ick
Night Sky GIF by MORITA_CHENGiphy
Hmmmm...
I'm learning toward city life for me.
I don't like complete silence.
And maybe I've watched too many Dateline NBC episodes, but I feel like rural areas are serial killer burial grounds.
Sure, stars are pretty as they dazzle a clear midnight sky, but that sight can be ruined as I'm being chopped up and put in cow feed.
And that whole living TWO HOURS from a Walmart or Target?
Oh, no, thank you.
But I will say, the country is nice to visit.
Howdy Y'all! Come back now, ya hear.