Small town USA

When you drove through the small town where I grew up as kid, there were no traffic lights, but you were sure to keep to the 35 mph speed limit for two big reasons. First, you never knew where the local cop might be hanging out, and there were so many Amish families traveling via horse and buggy, you could never get too far without having to slow down.

When I was growing up, my small town had a population of about 1,838. The next town over had even less. The county seat maxed out at 10,000 people. I grew up and moved away, but in many respects I just traded zip codes. The town I live in today is only slight bigger, with a population of 5,111. One huge difference is that the Philadelphia metropolitan area, with its 6.3 million people, makes the area feel much bigger.

So, I’ve been surrounded by small towns for much of my life. I took note then that Country Singer Jason Aldean has a song and music video out right now about small towns that’s caused a stir. Country Music Television announced plans to stop airing Aldean’s video “Try That In a Small Town” after complaints that the lyrics glorified violence and conveyed traditionally racist ideas.

The song talks about rounding up guns in the city and goes:

“Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town“

In a statement, Aldean said the song represents an “unspoken rule” for those raised in small towns: “We all have each other’s backs and we look out for each other.”

My biggest issue is with Aldean’s decision to use the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee for the backdrop of his video. The courthouse was the site of race riots in 1946 as well as a lynching in 1927 where a white mob pulled an 18-year-old black man, Henry Choate, from jail and dragged him through the city. I find it a bit naive of Aldean’s team for failing to see issues with filming a video about small towns taking care issues on their own at the site of one of the most horrific vigilante lynchings in our history. Have a little empathy please!

We can argue about the song until we’re blue in the face, but I think the debate misses a key lesson in how we talk about small towns. We make broad stereotypes like they’re all the same:

–-Everyone is in your business. In reality, I find small towns are pretty much just like their big city brethren. I’ve lived in small towns and barely knew my neighbor’s name. I’ve lived in small towns and knew when my neighbor’s kids would be stopping by to sell Girl Scout cookies.

–Small towns take care of our own. True and false again. Everyone always talks about small town residents looking out for one another, but when I think about support, I always think of a big city. I went to a Philadelphia Eagles game about fifteen years ago, I was walking to my seat when a New York Giants fan put out his leg to trip me. He looked pretty drunk to me. In any event, you would have thought I went to the game with hundreds of my closest friends, Eagles fans left and right came out of nowhere to wave to Security to get the guy kicked out of the game. I’ve never felt safer in my life.

–Kindness of strangers. Yes small towns have some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet, but you know what, sometimes they can be the toughest people on others who don’t share the same hopes and dreams. Small towns can be friendly as a cool lemonade on hot summer day and as cold as the East Antarctic Plateau, dubbed by NASA as the coldest place on Earth. Hmm, yes, again, just like the Big City.

–Everyone in a small town is a hick (or straight out of the Beverly Hillbillies.) Figure this trend out yet? I’ve met some of the smartest people alive in small towns. People travel now and you know what, small towns have the Internet and get Netflix and Amazon and all the other streaming services, just like city dwellers. Yes, I’m being sarcastic. They have a life!

My point. I’ve seen small towns that treat people right. I’ve seen small towns that are arrogant and haughty, and you wouldn’t want to be caught dead there. My point of view has always been that people are people. You travel to a small town, you’re going to meet some nice great people and, yes, you’re going to meet some crappy ones too. That’s how it goes.

What do you think?

For the record, here’s my favorite Small Town songs. They continue a few of these stereotypes, but I like them anyway:

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40 thoughts on “Small town USA”

  1. My hometown of Dexter, Iowa, has never had a population of more than 900 souls. Mom and her siblings grew up there during the Great Depression. Her dad was an out of work farmer most of the time, signing up for WPA jobs when he could. Mom’s two older brothers joined the Navy to have enough to eat and not be a burden on the family. When I wrote “Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression,” I took note of a small town’s nosy and gossipy side, but also how willing others were to encourage and help out.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I live in a very rural area in far western Maryland. Depending on whether you’re in the Northern or Southern end of the county, we are right on the border of West Virginia or Pennsylvania. There are only 39,000 people in the entire county. My small town is a tourist destination 3 seasons out of the year because of all the lakes and mountains. I think you hit the nail on the head. There are people here who would go out of their way to help anybody. Then there are those that act like they walked right out of the film Dileverance. There is that “everybody knows everybody” vibe, but mostly, people keep to themselves. There are stereotypical hillbillies and there are also entrepreneurs. It’s a mix, just like big cities. I think what it really boils down to is that people are afraid of what they do not know. A lot of small town folk who have never been to a big city think all city folk are snobs or belong to a gang. And city dwellers who have never been to the country seem to think all small towners have missing teeth, lack a few brain cells, and love guns more than people. If one would step out of their comfort zone and explore the bigger or smaller place, they would find that is not the case.

    I really enjoyed this post, Brian. Well written!!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I love how you’ve phrased it Kristian! Spot on! People are afraid of what they don’t know. A few years ago, we went to NYC for the weekend. As we got closer to the city, I was amazed yo watch myself get nervous. I was getting anxious over silly stuff. We ended up meeting a shopkeeper who went out of his way to help us, make us feel at home in the city. I remember laughing at how stupid I had been. People are people.

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      1. It happens to the best of us. The very first time I drove to Baltimore, I got lost. It was nighttime, so I didn’t recognize my surroundings, but I had heard so many horror stories, I was terrified. I called my aunt sobbing to come get me, thinking I was miles away. I was only two minutes from her house. We laugh about it now. I’ve been lost in the country and never reacted that way, but because it was a city of crime, I had a panic attack. Granted, I believe in being cautious and safe. However, my fear was not justified. It happens to all of us at times.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Love your perspective on this. I’m also from a small town and just moved. My experience has been that each small town has its own culture. I like how you listed both pros and cons and how there is no one size fits all approach. Great article!

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  5. I loved this: “First, you never knew where the local cop might be hanging out…” Tip off #1 that you’re in a small, small town. ONE police officer! Just one! 🤣 In one of the teensy small towns of my youth, one of my uncles referred to the Barney Fife-like officer as ‘the law man’. Thanks for a sweet post this morning, Brian.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. I am unaware of this video as I dislike country music, but the guy is right. My Michigan hometown is kind of like that and people won’t surrender their guns without a fight. Our constitutional right to bear arms is still in effect. The gun grabbers hate that.

    I used to shoot my .45 for target practice near the front door! That town has grown, unfortunately, but it still has so many really nice people. So much friendlier than here in Las Vegas.

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    1. Sounds like you want to move back! Yes, I know you mentioned the cold. I would probably argue that Las Vegas being an unfriendly place has less to do with size and more to do with everyone being from somewhere else. Just a thought. As far as guns, I think we disagree a bit on this issue. Yes, small towns care about the 2nd amendment. So do big cities. Small towns also care about innocent people getting killed. I certainly don’t want to take anyone’s guns. You can keep your 45, I don’t want it, but I still would like to see smart, sensible people come together to figure out a way to stop senseless killing and better management of weapons that are less about sport and more about creating as much havoc and death in as short of time as possible. My two cents.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I don’t want to move back to Michigan as yet, Brian, it’s too cold and gray for much of the year. I sold all of my guns in 2013 before I moved here with my now ex, and let my concealed carry license expire too. I will call the police if I need a gun these days.

        Not everyone here is a bad actor, I have met some very nice people including my neighbors and lots of fellow Michiganders.

        I suppose a very extensive background check, deeper than usual, is needed to try to weed out the ones that should not be licensed to carry a gun, but that idea itself opens up a new can of worms.

        I don’t have an answer for that other than to mention that guns don’t kill people, people kill people…

        Liked by 1 person

  9. I grew up in a rural town in northern Washington state. The song reminded me of when Antifa was coming to protest. The main street was lined with residents holding shot guns and rifles. I saw it on the news. Antifa turned around and left. Then the residents went home.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. I keep moving to smaller and smaller towns. In 2018, I left a city of 183,000 for one with 65,000 residents. Last year, I traded that in for a town of 12,000. It’s too early for me to comment on the differences, but without a doubt, I feel a sense of pride and kinship in my current town that I never felt elsewhere.

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  12. I love how you take apart the stereotypes here. It reminds me that we all idealize something – best to bring that ideal to whatever situation we are in instead of looking for it elsewhere!! ❤ ❤ ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  13. I live in a small town, in a modest house in New Jersey with my husband and three cats. It’s nice because it’s situated where it’s very fast to get to bigger places — the shore, NYC, and the many quaint historic towns we have in this state. I live close to a park and it’s fairly quiet. I like being anonymous. I’ve lived here 17 years and no one really knows me except a few neighbors who will say hello and some small talk. I’m more or less known as my husband’s wife and that’s that.
    Before I was married, I lived in a very hip, artsy town (Montclair, NJ) where everyone knew me. To this day, when I go back to that town I see people I know who are happy to see me (as I’m happy to see them) and seem to never forget me, as I don’t forget them. Sometimes I miss that, but to go forward you leave something behind, right?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. If my wife has anything to do with it, we’ll eventually move closer to the shore for all the reasons you mentioned!!! We’ll see. I’ve lived in big cities and small towns, I probably associate most with small town since that’s where I grew up. I can see positives to both places you’ve lived!!!

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  15. I do love the charm of a small town but also good to reminded that not all small towns and communities are painted with the same broad strokes.

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  16. I think there are two sides even in a small town. The side of people having each other’s backs and the everyone knows everything/gossipy side. So, good and bad to everything. I like country music, but I’m not a fan of Jason Aldean. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Funny thing is that I like another Jason Aldean song “flyover states” because I like the way it calls out that there’s a lot of great things about small towns. Just think there’s a way to be proud of where you came from without bringing up images of vigilante posses! Ha ha

      Liked by 1 person

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