Like with living anywhere, there are pros and cons to life in small towns. One of the things, however, that really makes small towns charming in my eyes is the fact that you can stop your car in the middle of the road just to talk.
Just Different
Small towns and big cities are two very different worlds, which rarely intersect. Many small-towners will go to the cities once a month to get groceries or visit attractions, and many big city dwellers will go to small towns to camp or see the natural beauty, but would you really call that an intersection? In the end the small-towners keep to themselves, and the big city dwellers do the same, mostly.
Some of the real small town enthusiasts out there will argue that life is slower in small towns. I’m not sure I really agree; I think it’s just different. And it’s often different in really subtle ways. Whether it’s how we talk, or where or when we talk, small towns have a different way of doing it.
One of the biggest differences between small town and city life is that in small towns we talk stopped in our cars … in the middle of the road.
We Stop Our Cars to Talk
Out-of-towners, you read that right. Our streets are so slow that we can stop our cars and talk.
Believe it or not, this is something I see in my hometown of Cannonville all the time. It is not uncommon to see two cars in opposite lanes stopped on Main Street, drivers’ windows aligned, leaning out to have a chat. I wondered if this was just in Cannonville, but then I saw it in Boulder, too, right on Scenic Byway 12, in fact.
This seems like such a unique small town thing. You wouldn’t see two cars stopped like this in Vegas, even on a quiet street!
Why Do We Do That?
You could chalk it up to small towns just being weird, but I think it probably has something to do, less with the small town itself, but with the attitude of small town people.
After all, there’s no hustle and bustle about it. When I’m stopped in a car behind these people, I don’t know what they are talking about, but I imagine it could be a number of things — things you don’t rush.
Maybe they’re bouncing around ideas about a church lesson, maybe one of them is sick or going through a hard time, or maybe they’re comparing notes on a book they read.
Or it could have more to do with local business, like they’re negotiating with neighbors about how to deal with their dog, or they’re returning letters that were misplaced in their mailbox, or they’re talking about work that needs to get done.
Whatever it is, in small towns when you see a person, that is the time to talk to them. It could be in a car on the road or at a basketball game or shopping in the grocery store.
Having Time to Talk
So I’m not sure life in small towns is actually slower, but if it is, the attitude of having time to talk has definitely got something to do with it.
Luckily on slow roads like these, traffic is not much of a problem — we just go around. But I really look up to people who are willing to stop the car and talk.
– by Abbie Call
Feature image caption: Scenic Byway 12 running toward Cannonville.
Abbie Call – Cannonville/Kirksville, Missouri
Abbie Call is a journalist and editor at The Byway. She graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. Her favorite topics to write about include anything local, Utah’s megadrought, and mental health and meaning in life. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with family, quilting and hiking.
Find Abbie on Threads @abbieb.call or contact her at [email protected].