Will I Ever Get Used To ...

When I wrote about our family moving to a VERY rural area, did I mention that the population of our entire county is less than 950?  No, that's not a typo.  To say there are a few cultural differences is an understatement.  As the title of this post indicates, "Will I ever get used to ..."

**  Receiving telephone calls from complete strangers inviting us over to their home for a social?  Yup, that actually happened last week.  After finishing the phone call Mr. B asked who had phoned.  Here's a recap of our conversation.

Me: "Oh, that was Mr.O.  He and his wife are having a social for the area home schoolers this Friday.  He invited us."
Mr.B:  "When did you meet them?"
Me:  "I haven't."
Mr.B:  "Well then how does he know we home school and how did he get our number?"
Me:  "Welcome to small town America.  It appears that EVERYONE in two counties know who we are, that we home school, where you work AND they even know our address and phone number."
Mr.B:  "humm."

The children and I accepted the invitation and had a wonderful time.  We not only met two new home schooling families but also had an opportunity to get better acquainted with two other families we'd met back in November.

**  Writing a personal check & NOT being asked for multiple forms of identification, two phone numbers, and a sample of my DNA.  Again, everyone knows everyone up here.  Although many folks do not know us personally, everyone seems to have an unquestioning trust trust for anyone who lives in the county.

**  Teen aged girls and moms of teen aged girls volunteering babysitting services, although we've only briefly met one time!  Where we come from, one is wise to be VERY cautious when hiring childcare personnel. 

**  Not only are the cars left unlocked, these people leave their keys in the car!  I'm sure they all think we are totally paranoid - not only do we lock our vehicles, but we also set the anti-theft alarms. 

**  Unlocked houses.  Yes, it appears that EVERYONE up here leaves their homes unlocked as well.  One of Mr.B's co-workers left his house unlocked while he was out of town for three weeks.  When Mr.B asked why he would do something like that, the co-worker responded, "Well, it's winter & you never know when someone might need to get inside to warm up."  By the way, a fellow church attendee recently stated the same rational when OG inquired why folks around here leave their homes unlocked.  I wonder what their answers will be come summertime?