Small Town Life

A few reasons why I'm glad I live in Kilgore (in no particular order):
*I have a 5-7 minute drive to work morning and afternoon
*I can go downtown without feeling like I'm risking my life
*I can go somewhere between the hours of 4:30 pm & 6:30 pm and it still only takes 2-7 minutes
*heavy traffic means waiting through 2 cycles of a light at an intersection
*lower crime rate
*sense of community and nice people
*downtown oil derricks
*open fields
*a grocery store with museum quality
*family
*trees...and lots of them
*several good people (there's a difference between good and nice...good people do what's right-deeper than face value...don't get me wrong, we have our share of the seedy crowd)

I've done big city life, and I'm very glad I did (even though I didn't enjoy it the majority of the time).  Otherwise, I would probably be frustrated about not knowing if it's for me or not.  Maybe if I did suburb life I would have a little less hatred for big city life (but not likely).  I'm so glad I lived in 2 different big cities (Dallas & Houston-actually in the city, not out in a suburb) because I know, without a doubt, small town life is for me, and I don't want to live anywhere but here.  Small town life isn't for everyone, just like city life isn't for everyone.  It really irritates me when people are so snobby and look down their nose at everyone who lives in small towns as know-nothing, worthless hicks.  I get especially annoyed with people who grew up here and now do the city life thing (which is fine...good for you), but criticize and mock and treat the current citizens like trash.  You are not better than me, or anyone else, because you made the decision to live in a city of millions instead of a small community, and you certainly aren't winning yourself any admirers by doing so.  I just can't imagine continuing to waste 2+ hours every monday-friday for the rest of my life commuting to and from work...especially when my drive was 10 miles in Houston....1+ hour to work and 1+hour home from work was ridiculous.  I spent more time sitting still or fight my way onto the freeway going a whopping 7 mph.  There's so much more I could do with that time-sleep, play with my dog, run, read, watch tv, go by my parent's house, walk my dog, enjoy the sun on my back porch, etc.  It's not worth it to me.  If that's ok with you and acceptable and you are willing to fight the traffic (toll road, freeway, hov lane-whatever) more power to you and someone has to, but not me.  I get that some jobs are only found in cities and you don't have a choice unless you make a career change, but I would make the change-I did make that change (without realizing it at the time).  Downtown city lights don't impress me as much as an open field, an old barn, the sound of crickets and toads in the summer, being able to see the stars, light traffic, and on and on.  If you think that makes me a worthless, know-nothing, country bumpkin.....well, then, ok.