Best Of
August 31, 2010 | Filed under: Stuff
I’m from L.A. Big, crowded, hot, wonderful L.A. I didn’t come to the mountains until I was grown but my kids have been raised very differently than I was. It’s funny to me that they don’t know what a real traffic jam is, or the true anonymity of living in a town with enough people that you don’t run into everyone you know everywhere you go. Maybe it’s my perspective that makes this whole small town living gig amusing, but when I saw this list, I knew I had to share with those of you who could understand. So … without further ado, you know you’re from a small, mountain town if you can nod your head at any of these:
1. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a snowplow on the highway.
3. You measure distance in hours.
5. You often switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.
6. You use a down comforter in the summer.
7. Your grandparents drive at 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
9. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
11. You carry jumper cables in your car and actually even know how to use them.
12. There are seven empty cars running in the parking lot at the 7-11 store at any given time.
13. You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
14. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
15. You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and flannel pajamas.
16. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction.
17. It takes you 3 hours to go to the store for one item even when you’re in a rush because you have to stop and talk to everyone in town.
19. You get pissed off at anyone who goes under 55mph (even when its snowing).
20. You still manage to go skiing even when the road is closed.
22. You know the names of everybody you went to school with… and their mom’s name.
23. You can pick the person you want to walk down the aisle with at high school graduation in kindergarten because YES they will still be here.
24. You actually understand these jokes
Posted by Jill @ 1:00 am | Make a Comment
Babs says:
OMG! This is great. Especially like #5, #15 and #16. #20 is AWESOME!
As a kid I moved to Colorado in 1981 (when Denver was still a cow town…seriously, the sidewalks rolled up at 6pm and we didn’t even live in Denver!) from the East Coast and wow, was it culture shock. But honestly, it was the best place to be a teenager.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 1:07 amStacy ~ says:
I grew up in a small town, so I can relate. Absolutely love #7 LOL. So true!
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 3:06 amkris says:
nope, got nuthin’. big city girl here.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 5:35 amAshley says:
I can relate to the small but not the mountain. Where I grew up everyone knew what I was doing before I did!
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 6:08 amLiza says:
I grew up in a small town and so relate to this list. I live in the city now, and laugh when I go home when all the grocery stores are closed by 9:00 pm. Nothing closes in Nashville unless we have a snow storm or a flood.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 7:24 amGeorganna says:
I grew up in a very small coal-mining town. My dad ran the only bar, so everyone knew and loved him. If I did even the smallest thing wrong, he would know even before I would get home. I HATED that then, but upon reflection, I stayed out of a lot of trouble that way!!!!
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 7:33 amKristina says:
I would absolutely love for this to be my list. Instead I have those stupid traffic jams.. added to the constructions, because the roads are always so congested they never get it fixed. OH, and everything closes at ten.. Which is total BS! The traffic calms at about eleven. That’s when I’d like to go shopping. LOL, leave the kids sleeping with my husband snoring on the couch.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 8:01 amkc says:
I grew up in Wisconsin, not a small mountain town, but I can totally relate to 1-16.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 9:20 amD says:
I grew up in the desert of West Texas, so can’t quite relate with some of the items, my husband however grew up in Northern California in the Trinity Mountains and when I read him this list his response was “sigh!, yeah, I really miss all that”. We live in a small town now but don’t have to deal with alot of snow(rain, rain and more rain).
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 9:37 amDonna M says:
I’ve lived in small towns for over 40 years, but not the mountains! I can laugh at some of the list. Small towns are great places to raise kids. If they got into trouble you knew it before they came home!!
The town I grew up in was a more medium sized town! Love the list. There is a list something like this going around that says you know you live in Oregon (where I grew up) if…
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 11:49 amayleen says:
LOL!!!Love #16, but in Florida its summer all year round with a touch of humidity on the top.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 12:07 pmtennismom mary g says:
How about everyone knows your business before you do?
Biggest shock for me when I moved from Toronto to the small town where hubby was from:
Lack of privacy – one day I called a cab. The driver
said to me, “Aren’t you the girl who moved from Toronto & married Charlie who works at XYZ Company?” I was totally shocked. Wish I’d said, “Bet you don’t know if we had sex last night.” LOL.
People ask questions they’d never ask in the big city. Hubby owned a house in the “swanky” part of town in a regular middle class house. Someone I worked with asked if we rented or owned the house. Geez!!I asked her if there was a right or wrong answer to this.
The upside: people are really nice & rush hour lasts from 5:00PM to 5:05PM.
Glad to be back in Toronto & invisible.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 1:31 pmStacy S says:
I’m not from a mountain town but agree with almost all of those.
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 4:55 pmTracy S says:
I’ve seen some of these on a “You know you live in Wisconsin if…”
Especially #7, #8, #13 and #16.
Regarding #7 “. Your grandparents drive at 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.” The WI one says YOU instead of the grandparents, but I laugh at a friend that lives in Maryland and her school district calls off school if the FORECAST calls for snow or rain (if it’s close to freezing).
We need at the very least 8 inches of snow for school to be called off here and it needs to be in the middle of coming down. If there is time for the plows to clear the roads, school is on!
Regrading #13. “You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.” Oh yeah. the kids costumes need to be about 3 sizes too big so they can wear coats under the costume. And sometimes they wear a really big costume because it’ll surprise us and be warm!
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 6:56 pmCarrie says:
I grew up in Big Bear so I can relate. Hope to grow old in the mountains too. City life…..YUK!
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 10:33 pmAmber says:
ROFL That’s a great list. And so true!
“You measure distance in hours.” I do this. Because it takes longer to get somewhere in winter and 50 miles of straight road isn’t the same as 50 miles of curvy road.
“You often switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day.” I did this yesterday. What happened to summer?
Posted on September 1st, 2010 at 1:54 pmRory G says:
8. You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
You need to keep in mind that where I live that is a very spiffy sport coat and those waders where shined up special for the event. I moved from TO and I love the country, nosy neighbors and all!
Posted on September 5th, 2010 at 7:32 pm