Posted by Nancy on May 16, '08 7:44 AM for everyone
This was sent to me from my High School best friends. I actually grew up in a town like this, and my dad was one of the police mentioned here.  I so want to go home. Those were the good ole days.
 
Those who grew up in small towns will laugh when they read this.Those who didn't will be in disbelief and won't understand how true it is..
1) You can name everyone you graduated with.
2) You know what 4-H means.
3) You went to parties at a pasture, barn, gravel pit, or in the middle of a dirt road.  On Monday you could always tell who was at the party because of the scratches on their legs from running through the woods when  the party was busted. (See #6.)
4) You used to 'drag' Main
5) You whispered the 'F' word and your parents knew within the hour.
6) You scheduled parties around the schedules of different police officers, because you new which ones would bust you and which ones wouldn't.
7) You could never buy cigarettes because all the store clerks knew how old you were (and if you were old enough, they'd tell your parents anyhow..) Besides, where would you get the money?
8) When you did find somebody old enough and brave enough to buy cigarettes, you still had to go out into the country and drive on back roads to smoke them.
9) You knew which section of the ditch you would find the beer your buyer dropped off.
10) It was cool to date somebody from the neighboring town.
11) The whole school went to the same party after graduation.
12) You didn't give directions by street names but rather by references. Turn by Nelson's house, go 2 blocks to Anderson's , and it's four houses left of the track field.
13) The golf course had only 9 holes.
14) You couldn't help but date a friend's ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.
15) Your car stayed filthy because of the dirt roads, and you will never own a dark vehicle for this reason.
16) The town next to you was considered 'trashy' or 'snooty,' but was actually just like your town.
17) You referred to anyone with a house newer then 1955 as the 'rich' people.
18) The people in the 'big city' dressed funny, and then you picked up the trend 2 years later.
19) Anyone you wanted could be found at the local gas station or the dairybar.
20) You saw at least one friend a week driving a tractor through town or one of your friends driving a grain truck to school occasionally.
21) The gym teacher suggested you haul hay for the summer to get stronger..
22) Directions were given using THE stop light as a reference.
23) When you decided to walk somewhere for exercise, 5 people would pull over and ask if you wanted a ride.
24) Your teachers called you by your older siblings' names.
25) Your teachers remembered when they taught your parents.
26) You could charge at any local store or write checks without any ID.
27) There was no McDonalds.
28) The closest mall was over an hour away.
29) It was normal to see an old man riding through town on a riding lawn mower.
30) You've peed in a cornfield.
31) Most people went by a nickname.
32) You laughed your butt off reading this because you know it is true, and you forward it to everyone who may have lived in a small town.
I would not have wanted to have been raised any other way!!!!
Tough times don't last... Tough people do!!

rainlily92 wrote on May 16
24) Your teachers called you by your older siblings' names.

This is the one I HATED the most...only because my older, and only sister, was not a good sister...yeah, lets just leave it at that. Now I'm sad.
jadedlady wrote on May 16
Those were the days! It's really sad that kids today can't enjoy that same type of small town life! I thought I grew up (near) a small town but I have to admit my kids had it even better than I did.They went to school in a small town that had one main road through the middle of town.In any given year there were never more than 55 kids total from grade-K through 12. Grade - K kids had their own class room because they had to adjust from being away from mom and home.Grades 1 through 12 had two grades per class room and usually had of 5 to 6 kids per room.I remember one year there was only one 12 grader.And I think it was 1988 or 89, The senior class wrote Johnny Carson and asked if their graduating class could be on his show.They received a reply saying their stage wasn't large enough for an entire class. They wrote back and told him the class had 6 boys. So he flew all 6 of them to CA. When Johnny asked the boys who they would dance with on prom night one of the boys laughed and said "well our moms,sisters, aunts and grandmas are our dance partners! A week later Johnny Carson got a letter from 6 senior girls in Iowa. Johnny Carson flew those 6 girls and the 6 boys from our school to LA,gave them a prom night complete with limos,dinner and had set up a place for them to have a dance with a live band.It was a day in history for everyone in town and the kids at school,The town had a population of 95 people.The entire family was involved in every event the school had.It was quite common for moms and grandmas to be seen at school.The elementary school had 4 class rooms,a room for art and one for music and a small gym.The high school had the principle office and rooms for the business end of it.Three class rooms a big gym a music room a a room for art.Every student is supplied with an instrument and encouraged to learn to play 2 or 3 different ones.When the grandparents and parents left school they donated their instruments so the selection keeps growing each year. There is no hot lunch program the kids take their lunch from home. The parents all chipped in and bought a microwave ans small refrigerator for each class room. The two small school buldings plus a garage for the 2 school buses sits on approx.200 acres.Since the school is so small and very few students the gov. doesn't give them much funding.And at one time was going to close the school and bus our kids 3 miles to the nearest town. All the parents and grandparents,aunts and uncles were outraged.Why should our kids be deprived of going to school where they live just because there were so few? Some kids already spent a couple of hours on the bus going to and from school.My kids were the last kids picked up and the first to be dropped off and we lived over 15 miles from the school.So almost every thing for the school is funded by donations from the families there.And when the kids want to do a special project...field trip and what not. They have bake sales and car washes and even tractor washes! And you know what is so "funny" where we lived there were hellacious curves and hills and a lot of snow and our kids might have averaged missing one day of school per year because of snow. I move to portland and I lmao when I heard the first weather forecast saying to expect approx 1/2 of snow and then they listed the schools that were closed!

Great post nancy! thanks for the walk down memory lane! hugsssss
single39female wrote on May 17
24) Your teachers called you by your older siblings' names.
I only have one older sibling and that is my older brother, Immaging being in calss and your teacher calling you Eldon, instead of Nancy...Not apretty sight. All the kids called me Eldon for the rest of the school week.
single39female wrote on May 17
Those were the days! It's really sad that kids today can't enjoy that same type of small town life! I thought I grew up (near) a small town but I have to admit my kids had it even better than I did.They went to school in a small town that had one main road through the middle of town.In any given year there were never more than 55 kids total from grade-K through 12. Grade - K kids had their own class room because they had to adjust from being away from mom and home.Grades 1 through 12 had two grades per class room and usually had of 5 to 6 kids per room.I remember one year there was only one 12 grader.And I think it was 1988 or 89, The senior class wrote Johnny Carson and asked if their graduating class could be on his show.They received a reply saying their stage wasn't large enough for an entire class. They wrote back and told him the class had 6 boys. So he flew all 6 of them to CA. When Johnny asked the boys who they would dance with on prom night one of the boys laughed and said "well our moms,sisters, aunts and grandmas are our dance partners! A week later Johnny Carson got a letter from 6 senior girls in Iowa. Johnny Carson flew those 6 girls and the 6 boys from our school to LA,gave them a prom night complete with limos,dinner and had set up a place for them to have a dance with a live band.It was a day in history for everyone in town and the kids at school,The town had a population of 95 people.The entire family was involved in every event the school had.It was quite common for moms and grandmas to be seen at school.The elementary school had 4 class rooms,a room for art and one for music and a small gym.The high school had the principle office and rooms for the business end of it.Three class rooms a big gym a music room a a room for art.Every student is supplied with an instrument and encouraged to learn to play 2 or 3 different ones.When the grandparents and parents left school they donated their instruments so the selection keeps growing each year. There is no hot lunch program the kids take their lunch from home. The parents all chipped in and bought a microwave ans small refrigerator for each class room. The two small school buldings plus a garage for the 2 school buses sits on approx.200 acres.Since the school is so small and very few students the gov. doesn't give them much funding.And at one time was going to close the school and bus our kids 3 miles to the nearest town. All the parents and grandparents,aunts and uncles were outraged.Why should our kids be deprived of going to school where they live just because there were so few? Some kids already spent a couple of hours on the bus going to and from school.My kids were the last kids picked up and the first to be dropped off and we lived over 15 miles from the school.So almost every thing for the school is funded by donations from the families there.And when the kids want to do a special project...field trip and what not. They have bake sales and car washes and even tractor washes! And you know what is so "funny" where we lived there were hellacious curves and hills and a lot of snow and our kids might have averaged missing one day of school per year because of snow. I move to portland and I lmao when I heard the first weather forecast saying to expect approx 1/2 of snow and then they listed the schools that were closed!

Great post nancy! thanks for the walk down memory lane! hugsssss
Wow and I thought my son's highschool was small. They had all from 7th grade to 12th grade in clases together. and the k through 6 were in the other building with the cafeteria/gym inbetween them. There was only one principal for both schools and the kids were bussed in from 3 towns, one town was 15 minutes away but the bus driver for them lived in that town and he just brought the kids in on his bus each morning. The bus drivers were coaches and school teachers at teh same time as beign bus drivers. I knwo what you mean about very little funding.
cjudkins wrote on May 19
I, too, grew up in a town like this. I hated it!!! Not good memories doing this. It's the CITY life for me!

Love ya,
Aunt Chris
single39female wrote on May 19
It's the CITY life for me!
Well the town I grew up in, El Dorado, was small but my dad was one of the police officers that would ahve been represented.

My parents were kind and shieled me from being able to party and go out and gtet into trouble, which was a good thing. I can see that now but I didn't like it then.

Maybe that is part of why I so want to go back home, is so that I maybe do some of the things I missed out on. But I guess that I am here in Arkansas to stay. I too prefer the city to the country however.
Add a Comment
   
© 2008 Multiply, Inc.    About · Blog · Terms · Privacy · Corp Info · Contact Us · Help