life in a small town

There are disadvantages to living in a small town

     In a big city, you could fall dead in a restaurant and nobody would notice your until there is a shift change.  People don't care.  They walk past you and don't acknowledge your existence.
     Go into a store, they probably won't greet you by name, or engage in friendly banter.
     Your mechanic may not care if he fixed your car or charges you the right amount.
     True story.  I took our cars to Al King Automotive.  Al was a super nice guy and his wife Mary is a nut in the best possible way.
     I got the bill for the oil change and it was something like $120.  I said to Mary, that's a lot and he must have found another problem to fix.
     About 10 o clock that night my phone rings.  Mary asks, "How much was your oil change?'  I told her.  She said "Go get the receipt and look at it."  I did.  Somehow, a charge for 9.00 got misaligned, and it came out 90.0.....a misplaced decimal!  She had mentioned the bill to Al, and Al said it should have bee $20 or so.
     We laughed about it forever.  I still took my car there, and I checked the bills.
     In a big city, they wouldn't give a rat's butt enough to call me or figure out why my bill was so high.
     People talk to each other  here.  They know you, the teams you like, and sometimes even what you had for breakfast that morning.
    It can be a blessing.
     And it can be a curse.  When someone dies, it hurts.  It hurts because you had the person in school.  Or you know the parents.  Or you've acted on stage with them or a family member.   It hurts, because someone is gone too soon.  Far too soon.
    We've been in Rochelle for over 40 years.  We've met a lot of great people.  And we've gone to too many funerals for people who left us too early.
    In a big city, that wouldn't matter.  The person would just be a name on the news or in the paper.     But in a small town, that name is a person.
    We've all felt that hurt.
    It's a price you pay for caring.
    Peace to all of you reading this.  Hug your kids when you see them next.  Hug your spouse when you wake up tomorrow.
     That's all I have to say about it.