Well here I am at home for the weekend. I come from a farm, near a small town. One of the things that is both annoying and wonderful about living in a small town is how everybody knows everyone else. This is bad if you don't want everyone knowing your business. Good luck keeping your affair with the Postman a secret. Even if neither of you tell anyone, Phyllis from next door will see him leaving by the back door at an odd hour and will inform everyone on Coffee Row the next day.
The good thing about everyone knowing you, is that in addition to taking a personal interest in your business, they take a personal interest in your welfare. If your neighbours find out you need help, then they pitch in, no questions asked.
Today, we had a fire in one of our fields. We do not know how it started, but suspect it may have been caused by a build-up of static charge on the sprayer. In any case, a fire started, and we immediately had several neighbours show up. It was one of those crazy "Get your torch and pitchfork" moments, except of course that torches wouldn't have helped much with a fire, so I guess it was more like, "Get your buckets and pitchfork". Anyway, we got the fire out, didn't even have to call 911.
So even though I sometimes think that living in a small town sucks, that is one aspect that is great. Finding that kind of altruism in the city is tough.
