My girlfriend and I are breaking up.
Rant VIII: The Reckoning
- Thread starter Anonymous
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Town of 4000 people. Not so much. I think one of the churches in town has a charity shop, but I'm not entirely sure.
To give a general idea of the services in town, here's what I know we have:
Tims (open 24 hours)
Subway
2 pizza places (delivery available via taxi)
1 chinese restaurant
1 gas station
Canadian Tire
Home Hardware
1 grocery store
1 liquor store (attached to the grocery store)
2 banks
1 lawyer
1 pharmacy
1 k-mart equivalent
7 churches (why there are so many is beyond me)
5 doctors (who are all taking patients)
1 eye doctor
1 small hospital (not open 24 hours)
1 vet
2 taxi companies
3 motels
Closest charity shop or donation place that I know of for sure is 3 hours down the road in the 'big city' (pop. 20,000).
No buses, and we're also a ferry port. Though I agree that it seems weird.
This would not surprise me.
Dang, we have 37000 and only one taxi company, and one "limo" service, I think they have two stretch vehicles and that's it.
Let's see:
- 1 taxi service
- 1 "on demand" bus service
- McDonald's
- Hardee's
- Pizza Hut
- Dairy Queen (right next to the Pizza Hut; only open from March to October)
- KFC/Taco Bell (but it's technically "outside" the city limits, on the other side of the freeway)
- Super Wal-Mart
- 2 Subways (second one is in the Wal-Mart; the original may be closing soon due to new construction)
- Culver's
- an IGA-like grocery store
- a Piggly Wiggly
- 1 independent coffee shop
- 2 Mobil (Exxon) stations
- 2 Cenex Co-Op gas stations
- 2 Holiday Station Stores (Gas stations)
- 1 Citgo
- 1 Shell station
- 2 stoplights
- 1 roundabout
- 3 motels (one a former Super 8, one an AmericInn, the other an Econolodge)
- a whole bunch of city parks (hence the nickname "City of Parks")
- a hospital
- 2 medical clinics
- 2 optometrists
- a Ford dealer and a Chrysler/Dodge dealer (the GM dealer is outside of town)
- 4 Lutheran Churches
- The County Fairgrounds
- The County Courthouse
- Old and new City Halls
- a Radio Shack
- 2 NAPA dealers (one a parts store, the other a repair shop)
- Enough abandoned factories to make you think you were in Detroit at times
Consider me confused on the Mobil (Exxon) stations... which is it, or is it something weird that I'm just not understanding from that description. What I'm used to is either Mobil or Exxon (neither of which I use, since there are cheaper alternatives to those brands) as a stand alone, but not as one place.
Hahaha! My hometown has a gas station, convenience store/bait shop, a church, a fire station, and a liquor store that serves as a weigh station during deer season. We were too far away from the two bigger towns near us to be able to get pizza delivered. 
Dave
Staff member
My hometown - 450 people. A bowling alley/cafe/bar, another bar, church, meat market, small (very small) grocery store, & a pharmacy. They just reopened the doctor's office. There's a gas station/DQ at the interstate 2 or 3 miles away. It's actually pretty good for a small town like that.
GasBandit
Staff member
My "hometown" is San Antonio, though we moved before I was 4. So small town stuff doesn't really apply in my case. Though I like small towns, now. One of my favorite places is Timberon, NM - which takes 2.5 hours to reach by car from Alamogordo, or 15 minutes by Cessna 172. It has 1 gas station/general store, a post office, a restaurant/lodge that is only open in the summer/tourist season, a gravel airstrip, a horse rental, and maybe a population of 200 or so, tops.
It does have some, but it's a walk-up, without a drive-thru or any restaurant seating.
They're both Mobil stations; I was using Exxon (or what Canandians call "Esso") as an explanation of what kind they are.Sparhawk said:
(EDIT: Dear GOD the copy/past stuff on here is screwy...)
==
There was this one place out in NM that I visited, Newkirk - I don't think I could live there. Gas station, restaurant and post office are in the same building.
We always hear that type stuff, "Wish I lived in a small town..." It's not what you think. Everybody knows your business. Every. Single. Freaking. Person. You really have no privacy because of it. Wife goes out for a lunch with an old friend... "Are you guys having trouble? We saw your wife out with &&& the other day at lunch and you weren't with her." (I was in his wedding, we were friends) "What did UPS deliver from Amazon yesterday, we saw they stopped at your house." It can be rather smothering. I prefer to live in a more moderate sized city, 30k to 100k, allows some of the know your neighbor stuff, but not the know every freaking person around you for 10 miles.
The small town thing is new for both of us. We've both had family who lived in small towns, so have interacted with it, but never as adults.
That said, given my job, I can live in a 30k pop place, and everyone STILL knows the vast majority of my business. So I'm rather 'meh' about that particular prospect.
I'm still pissed about all the boxes my mom shipped us though!
@LittleSin We're at the other end of the island from you. And to be honest, so far (it's only been a week/talk to me in February) it's been great! The people are really nice and helpful w/o being pushy. And as long as they don't talk too fast, I can figure out what they're saying!
That said, given my job, I can live in a 30k pop place, and everyone STILL knows the vast majority of my business. So I'm rather 'meh' about that particular prospect.
I'm still pissed about all the boxes my mom shipped us though!
@LittleSin We're at the other end of the island from you. And to be honest, so far (it's only been a week/talk to me in February) it's been great! The people are really nice and helpful w/o being pushy. And as long as they don't talk too fast, I can figure out what they're saying!
Dude, move about 100 miles east of your present location and you will be TEARING YOUR HAIR OUT within six months.
To be a bit more specific, its in the outer suburbs(so white suburbia), I live literally a hundred yards from the Saint Croix River(so a tourist town), my neighbors are all very, very, rich people(RICH white suburbia, but I am not), and I try to keep to myself as much as possible given my job, interests, and the general social disposition of my community. I believe my town has 20000 people and is the center of a larger county tri-city area(3 different cities butt up to each other.) This pales to the twin cities metro which clocks in at over 20 million people(thats only a 20 minute drive to the CITY CITY from here).
in regards to the everyone knowing you business, my mother is a teacher here and has been for 30 years, she is a damn institution and I cannot go anywhere without being pegged, so I make sure that no one is real sure of anything about me as much as possible. I try to be like like the MIB when out and about. "You'll conform to the identity we give you, eat where we tell you, live where we tell you. From now on you'll have no identifying marks of any kind. You'll not stand out in any way. Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter. You're a rumor, recognizable only as deja vu and dismissed just as quickly. You don't exist; you were never even born. Anonymity is your name. Silence your native tongue. You're no longer part of the System. You're above the System. Over it. Beyond it"
Someone stole the fucking front light off my bicycle while it was locked up in front of my store today while I worked.
Not only did they take the light itself (which is sadly easy to clip and unclip), but they actually unscrewed the holder for said clipping.
If I ever find out who did it, I'm breaking their fucking legs.
Not only did they take the light itself (which is sadly easy to clip and unclip), but they actually unscrewed the holder for said clipping.
If I ever find out who did it, I'm breaking their fucking legs.
Yeah, the only way to get around that is to live outside of the small town, preferably with no neighbors that can see your house from theirs. Like my parents and I did when I was in junior high/high school in a town of 250 people with a post office, a liquor/soda fountain/grocery store, a bank, a town hall, a fertilizer store, a fire station with one ambulance that wasn't licensed for transport, one church (3 miles away from another church in a similar small town that had to share priests - there's a story there), a Catholic school (attached to said church), and a K-12 public school. Oh yeah, and a park and some tennis courts. No one in that town played tennis. Everyone is still all up in your business, and there are still no secrets, but at least you don't have neighbors commenting on the comings and goings at your house all the time.
fade
Staff member
You could live in a rural area like I did. No one gets in anyone's business. Instead they're just all paranoid and scary and you never see your friends outside of school. In high school the cool place to hang out was a dirt lot. There were no chain stores. One hole in the wall restaurant straight out of a movie, where some scary old redneck gives you the Popeye stare when you walk in even if he knows you while monophonic country music plays in the background. We had a couple of stop signs too.
My first hometown (my hometown from ages 0-10, and a couple of family generations before) could be considered a small town because it was only 2 1/2 sq miles, but given it was North Jersey and very close to NYC, our population would dwarf some of your towns combined. We did know a lot of people around town, mostly due to my grandparents growing up in the area and raising their family in the same town, and also my grandfather was the fire chief, but there were still a lot of people we never knew/had no idea who I was, either. We also had plenty of modern conveniences, or were within a couple miles of any we were missing. What I can't wrap my head around is a 2 1/2 sq mile town still managed to have a full golf course, a Girl Scout camp and 2 high schools.
Small Towns: YMMV.
Small Towns: YMMV.
I'm about 30 minutes from anything of any significance.
For example: Yes, I managed to get one of those free Domino's Pizza codes from their promotion with MLB over the first no-hitter of the season. (I was totally not expecting it, by the way; every time I logged in to the site, it said "try again".) I put the order in for 7:30 tonight, and had to leave here at about 6:55 to get down to the nearest Domino's - which is in the middle of the semi-abandoned east side of Wausau.
A side note: There are a LOT of empty factories around here, both where I live and down in Wausau. Many of them were companies that thrived on the lumber and wood processing business: window framing, exterior trim, that sort of stuff. As Wausau Paper and other major companies decided to leave the area, they abandoned a lot of their factories. It's gotten bad enough that they call a part of downtown Wausau "little Detroit".
For example: Yes, I managed to get one of those free Domino's Pizza codes from their promotion with MLB over the first no-hitter of the season. (I was totally not expecting it, by the way; every time I logged in to the site, it said "try again".) I put the order in for 7:30 tonight, and had to leave here at about 6:55 to get down to the nearest Domino's - which is in the middle of the semi-abandoned east side of Wausau.
A side note: There are a LOT of empty factories around here, both where I live and down in Wausau. Many of them were companies that thrived on the lumber and wood processing business: window framing, exterior trim, that sort of stuff. As Wausau Paper and other major companies decided to leave the area, they abandoned a lot of their factories. It's gotten bad enough that they call a part of downtown Wausau "little Detroit".
A month ago, we realized our bathroom fixtures were all leaking. So, we hired a contractor to renovate the bathroom, who gave us a reasonable estimate, with the caveat that it'd be more if there was significant damage underneath the walls and floor.
So, two weeks ago, he came in and did all the work, and lo and behold, two walls and the subfloor were all rotted out and needed to be rebuilt from scratch. Extra expense, but not altogether a shock.
Then, Saturday, our dishwasher basically blows up (the door literally blew open and shot water everywhere), and our dryer checked out. Headed out and ordered two more new appliances on credit.
Monday, I went to open up the pool, and there's a hole in it clean through the rim, so no pool until we can pay off everything else.
Today, our air conditioner unit stopped running for no reason. The dishwasher and dryer were supposed to be delivered and installed today, but both were no-shows.
I could really use a win sometime soon.
So, two weeks ago, he came in and did all the work, and lo and behold, two walls and the subfloor were all rotted out and needed to be rebuilt from scratch. Extra expense, but not altogether a shock.
Then, Saturday, our dishwasher basically blows up (the door literally blew open and shot water everywhere), and our dryer checked out. Headed out and ordered two more new appliances on credit.
Monday, I went to open up the pool, and there's a hole in it clean through the rim, so no pool until we can pay off everything else.
Today, our air conditioner unit stopped running for no reason. The dishwasher and dryer were supposed to be delivered and installed today, but both were no-shows.
I could really use a win sometime soon.
I can certainly sympathize. I normally unclip my light and take it in with me for this very reason. Though, at one point it did leave me in the exact opposite situation. When I exited the store, I discovered that my bike had been stolen and all I was left with was the light.
Maybe you and Nick should get together on this one. Then it'd be whole again!
Dave
Staff member
So my wife and I started watching Game of Thrones tonight. It was about 10 minutes in and the phone rang with the caller ID "Marine Corps N". We had no idea what this was so we answered it. Turns out it's the Navy Federal Credit Union saying that there were some suspicious charges on my son's debit card and they wanted us to verify.
Couple of things. My son is in South Korea and CAN'T verify, and how the fuck do I know whether the charges are authentic? They probably are as he's been making some purchases. So I pressed the # key until the system threw up it's hands and put me through to a human. Turns out I would have been just as well off talking to the fucking machine. It went something like this.
Me: This is my son's account and he's in South Korea. How can we have him verify these charges?
Them: Sir, if you're not on the account we can't tell you anything.
Me: So what's going to happen?
Them: We're going to freeze the account until he calls and verifies.
Me: He's in South Korea and doesn't have a phone. How can he do that?
Them: Sir, if you're not on the account, we can't tell you anything.
Me: Put your supervisor on.
Them: One moment, please.
Supervisor: I'm sorry, sir, if you're not on the account...
I fucking went off. I probably yelled and bitched at that woman for 15 straight minutes while she tried to blow me off. Finally, she agreed to put some notes in the system saying that he's in Korea and that he'd need to get to the bank branch on his base, but he would have a limited time to do so. I calmed down a lot and even laughed with her a little, but instead of apologizing, I said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, but I don't think you'd have done anything if I hadn't." Her response? "You're probably right."
Fucking catch-22. Now I'm trying to get a hold of my son to let him know he has only a few hours to get the bank. We've sent texts & emails and that's about all we can do because I don't think this constitutes an emergency call.
But fucking hell, man! We switched him to the Navy Federal Credit Union specifically because they serve the armed forces and because he was getting stationed over seas.
Couple of things. My son is in South Korea and CAN'T verify, and how the fuck do I know whether the charges are authentic? They probably are as he's been making some purchases. So I pressed the # key until the system threw up it's hands and put me through to a human. Turns out I would have been just as well off talking to the fucking machine. It went something like this.
Me: This is my son's account and he's in South Korea. How can we have him verify these charges?
Them: Sir, if you're not on the account we can't tell you anything.
Me: So what's going to happen?
Them: We're going to freeze the account until he calls and verifies.
Me: He's in South Korea and doesn't have a phone. How can he do that?
Them: Sir, if you're not on the account, we can't tell you anything.
Me: Put your supervisor on.
Them: One moment, please.
Supervisor: I'm sorry, sir, if you're not on the account...
I fucking went off. I probably yelled and bitched at that woman for 15 straight minutes while she tried to blow me off. Finally, she agreed to put some notes in the system saying that he's in Korea and that he'd need to get to the bank branch on his base, but he would have a limited time to do so. I calmed down a lot and even laughed with her a little, but instead of apologizing, I said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, but I don't think you'd have done anything if I hadn't." Her response? "You're probably right."
Fucking catch-22. Now I'm trying to get a hold of my son to let him know he has only a few hours to get the bank. We've sent texts & emails and that's about all we can do because I don't think this constitutes an emergency call.
But fucking hell, man! We switched him to the Navy Federal Credit Union specifically because they serve the armed forces and because he was getting stationed over seas.
Honestly, my biggest question out of all that is what exactly was he buying for himself? From all accounts you've said about him, he sounds like a reasonable, responsible boy who wouldn't make a series of big, stupid purchases.