Just by going home
October 18, 2006It is the little things about living in a tiny countryside village that do it.
In one of our two (yes, our tiny 4000 people village has two of them) supermarkets, there is this old man. He has a cane, is slightly bent, but wears this green overall, and with effort, and the help of his cane, he still works at this supermarket, straightening the goods, unpacking new stock, you name it. I have this slightly idyllic idea that he is the original owner of the grocery store, from long before it was bought up and became part of one of the large supermarket chains.
You know, you rarely, if ever, see stuff like this in the city. In the city, people seem so… Disassociated with the streets and people around them, it just makes me uncomfortable. People greet each other here in my little hometown, people wait for each other at crossings, and people help the elderly here, you know, all those things good parents are supposed to teach their children.
Many of my friends wonder deeply why I prefer to live this life, far away from ‘civilisation’, and I can understand where they’re coming from. However, when I want to go to a city, it’s only 15 minutes (Alkmaar) or 45 minutes (Amsterdam) by car, and I sure do enjoy going out in the city. However, after a few nights out, I get uncomfortable. I feel out of place, and I want to go home.
Call me crazy, call me old-fashioned, whatever, I don’t give a rat’s ass. All I know is that when I’m tired, burned out, or simply uncomfortable, I can get away from it all… By just going home.
World, Social Life | 
You’re so right I couldn’t have told it better. I’m doing the same, and you know what ? I will never choose an in-city/downtown place as a home. Not just that a smaller town is quieter, calmer, healthier, etc. It’s also a psychological issue I guess, that by having to go some distance from the work and the city also places you at a physical distance from the everyday working life. Just the 45-50 minutes that I need to drive home every day is about enough to forget the day’s troubles and arrive home in a better state of mind.
Comment by l3v1 — October 18, 2006 @ 7:18 pm
Very true. I’m from northeastern Ohio. Live on 2.5 acres on a fairly quiet street. I’m close enough to Warren that when I need to go shopping anywhere, it’s only about 5-15 minutes to get there. Need something different, about 30 minutes to the Boardman area. Or if you really feel like driving, about an hour out from Akron & Cleveland. We don’t have the traffic & other problems a big city can have, but we’re close enough to get there if we need to.
Learned to ride a motorcycle a few summers ago, it’s nice having lots of backroads to explore with very little traffic on them. I’d personally hate to live in the city, I need the open space.
Comment by John S. — October 18, 2006 @ 7:39 pm