Small Towns
I’m not going to get into the Row versus Wade debate. However, there was someone who didn’t agree with the decision and wrote a piece on Reddit advocating taking the abortion fight to small towns, calling them “defenseless” and “weak” and how they should be punished for their conservative Christian views. Obviously, this individual is projecting and knows nothing about how small towns think and work.
Small towns don’t have a lot of police, because they don’t need a lot of police. They have the backup and full support of nearly everyone in the county. They are resourceful because they have to be. It’s a way of life. It’s common for the town to know everyone in town. Pull up to a gas pump and everyone is talking.
Small towns are not compartmentalized like big cities. Often the town’s plumber is also the town’s best carpenter, or the auto parts store is the same place you get your mail. Everyone knows everyone and they all help each other because dependencies cross in all directions.
When an ice storm was approaching this area, an email went out to all the neighbors about how we were all going to be coordinated should there be a long power outage. Everyone was ready, right down to backup generators for the water pumps.
A very long time ago, I got to see first hand how a small town operates when there was a nuisance to deal with. I learned what a “thirty minute hole” is and how they use that hole to solve problems. A thirty minute hole is how deep and big of a hole a backhoe can make in 30 minutes. It holds a lot of stuff. Deep too!
The point is, small towns don’t have a lot of regulations and they can make stuff go away in a 30 minute hole. Bring hardware to cause trouble in a small town? Well, it’s probably going in a 30 minute hole. I was amused when I saw how they operate, and it’s all within local laws. A lot of laws fall into “well it depends” and this particular county didn’t much like big city people.
In this particular town, I got to know the County Sheriff and in fact it was one of their deputies that gave me shooting lessons in the early 90s, after they scolded me for not carrying a firearm in my work because of extreme wildlife and a possible methhead mobile cooking operation at the time that had them worried. They were telling me about how they ran with such a small police force and how it was the town’s people who were their backup.
As a part of my work as a Federal Court Appointed Trustee, I had to serve a “writ of unlawful detainer” notice on someone, the deputy asked who had what guns from the civilians in the matter, and how many bullets they had. The deputy fully expected the town folk to back him up for 30 minutes until help arrived in the event shooting started. Nobody acted surprised or alarmed. It was just another small town problem that was getting solved by the town folk. No shots were fired, and it all went smoothly, but it was a good lesson in how a small town is organized.
When there is a natural disaster in a small town, within minutes of its passing, the neighbors are all right there helping out, usually before emergency vehicles arrive. It’s just a part of the culture.
One particular local in a small town wanted to meet with me when I was trustee of a large piece of property, but had no phone and there was no cell service out there. I asked, how will we connect? He said just show up at the local market and he’d be there within 30 minutes. All I had to do was park. Sure enough. I parked in the middle of the lot and within 30 minutes he found me to discuss a telephone pole he wanted. They were relaying to keep an eye out for me via CB radio.
Small towns are highly resourceful. 911 is something they would only use if they couldn’t solve the problem on their own. They fear nothing and have no problem shooting straight. I feel a lot safer living in a small town than I ever did living in Seattle. I also know that not one person is worried about what someone thinks in a big city. They on the other hand, think everyone in the big cities are crazy. Based on the Reddit post, I can’t blame them.