Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Keeping It Simple -- Moving From Big Cities to Small Towns

By Terry McGahey

I get a kick out of some people who want to get out of the hustle and bustle of the big city, so they move to a small town.

Now the people I am talking about have never lived in small town U.S.A., and don't understand the difference in lifestyles, but while visiting a town like Cody, Wyoming, where I live, they see how clean the town is and how clear the sky's are, along with the mountainous scenery, and believe this is the place for them.

Once they decide to move here one of the first things they don't like, and begin to cry about, is how many of us carry guns. Now, not all of those who move here do, but I would say about fifty percent of them or better don't like it because of the anti gun hype they have been brainwashed to believe. The next thing they regret is that there are no shopping malls or big box stores. They have to travel to Billings, Montana which is a little over one hundred miles away.

Then you have the wives who can't get over the fact that during hunting season the locals have a fresh gutted kill in the back of their pick up truck, right in the middle of town, showing their trophy to friends and family. You can normally spot these women because they are still dressed to the nines like where they came from, while the local women dress nicely but more relaxed with many wearing jeans and western shirts.

It has always amazed me how many people from large metropolitan areas move into an area such as this, then want life to be just like it was back in the city or state from which they came, and also believe that we should change to suit them. They want to teach us country bumpkins how to live.

If you don't like the way of life and the laws in an area you are about to move into, then don't move there! If you do decide to move into a new area, then just fit in and go along with the status quo. People would find that they would be accepted more readily into their new environment, and that their life would be a lot easier, if they would just leave where they come from, where they came from. You may be surprised at how many people from other states think the laws are the same here as the state they moved from.

I remember one fellow who moved here from Chicago, He was a little too pushy, trying to get to know people too quickly rather then ease himself into the fold. People here are friendly, decent people overall, but with the influx of big city folks, with different ideas of how to live than what we do, most of us want to know the kind of person we are dealing with before getting to friendly with them. The people here don't care where you come from as long as you are a decent sort, but it takes a little time to find that out.

One day I was in Wal-Mart after being out target shooting and I was wearing my gun on my hip which I normally do anyway, when that fellow from Chicago walked up to me and said "You're wearing a gun!" I then told him, "Sure, why not it's legal."He then told me, "We don't allow such things in Chicago." Knowing right then and there that I wanted nothing to do with this guy, I replied, "Then buddy, you need to move back to Chicago."I guess he must have done so because I haven't seen him since.

Now, on the lighter side of things, I would like to pass on some of the silly questions some of the big city tourists come up with before visiting Yellowstone Park. Questions like, What time do they let the animals out in Yellowstone? How long does it take for a deer to turn into and Elk? How many coyotes will a wolf pack take in as slaves? How close can we get to the bears, and are any of them tame enough to pet? And my favorite, does Yellowstone give Moose rides?

Back when I was working at the airport as an armed security officer these questions were put to me more than once by people from places like inner city Los Angeles, New York City and a few others. Now I realize that the majority of folks from those places know better than that, but the people who asked those types of questions were mainly from areas such as those.

1 comment:

  1. Some people really amaze me. Some of the ones who live where I live come from the big city and half of them wouldn't even know anybody who came from a small town. And I know what you're thinking. Yes, we DO do things different around here. For example, the situation where if you see someone breaking into your home is one where you would call police but we small town people would rather take up arms. Or if you see a random van pull up beside a young kid, you automatically think it's gonna lure the child away whereas we think it's just another one of our friends. We treat things differently depending on where we live. And if you don't wanna accept that, then I don't know what to tell ya. Welcome to the neighborhood.

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