The Advantages Of Being A Country Boy

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I sometimes chuckle whenI read something with advice on where to meet women or unique date ideas. It’s alwayssomething like, “Try approaching women at the dog park!” or “Take her to a museum or comedy club instead ofdinner and a movie!” I laugh not because they’re bad ideas (theyaren’t), but because a substantial chunk of the population is reading that andthinking “What the f*ck is a dog park?” The media naturally directs itself atcity dwellers, because that’s where most of the world resides. Unfortunately, thatdoes little for readers in rural areas looking for something they can relate to.While I now call the Washington, DC, area home, thatwasn’t always the case. I grew up on five acres of land tucked into the woods ofGloucester County, in eastern Virginia. Getting anywhere, and I meananywhere, meant a 15-minute drive. There was one high schooland two bars, and only one of them was really worth going to. Making left turns during thesummer was particularly perilous due to the height and abundance of corn stalks. I recallthat when MapQuest first gained popularity, no one found it all that useful at firstbecause a) some of us still had dial-up Internet, making it a time consuming endeavor, andb) it gave you distances in miles rather than minutes. Speaking of maps, if myparents ever moved, I’d be sh*t out of luck, because most of the roads in that towndon’t show up on a GPS. I’d be all right if I could find someone to give me aset of directions that consisted of: “Head down xx road for about 10 minutes,bearing right on xx road for five minutes and then making your first left off the pavedroad.” I remember in high school a lot of people skipped class to go check out thenew Wal-Mart because it was rumored to be the third-largest on the East Coast. So whatI’m saying is, I’m intimately familiar with the realities of small-townliving.While country life undoubtedly has itsshortcomings, I wouldn’t change a thing about my youth. Having no one around withnowhere to go required that I find creative ways to entertain myself, and you probablywouldn’t be reading this (or anything of mine) if I’d had a whole neighborhoodfull of other kids to distract me. Rural life forces you to be resourceful inother ways. Because repairmen of any kind were usually neither affordable nor accessible,when something broke, it usually meant that my father (and me, in whatever capacity Icould offer) was fixing it. Coming up through school with the same set of people everyyear in the same unchanging town meant you had to get pretty good at making conversation,because it’s not like you had a lot of outside stimulus providing new conversationtopics. You also had to learn patience on account of those long commutes. The inherentlack of choice in retail options (the nearest mall was at least 45 minutes away) went along way in staving off materialism. There’s either something that meets your needsor there isn’t, so there’s not much point in fretting over which thing isbest. Get the thing that works, and if they don’t have one, figure something out.Materialism still existed, of course, in the form of boat, truck or hunting-gear envy, butthe general lack of choice taught you to appreciate what you have without tying youridentity to possessions.And here’s the goodnews for any countryfolk considering a move to the big city. All of these traits lendthemselves just as well, if not better, to city life. You’re unlikely to findyourself being picky and quibbling with your friends over which bar to go to, when backhome your only options were either the town’s solo watering hole or a bonfire in themiddle of a field. Chicks love a guywho can fix things around the house, work a grill and still hold up their end of aconversation, but that’s not such useful information for the man currently living ina place where the nearest museum or comedy club is two hours away. Of course there’snothing wrong with living in a rural area and it does have plenty going for it, but forsomeone who wants a more stimulating, fast-paced lifestyle, it does present somechallenges, and a move to the city might be something to consider. The internet gets nearly all the credit it deserves for openingup certain aspects of life and culture to places that otherwise might not have access toit. If you live in a town where everyone knows everybody, an online dating site is agodsend for people looking to branch out and diversify. Nicer clothes, booze and groomingproducts are all just a click away. That kind of stuff can be life changing for a man tieddown to a small town. But for a young man with no obligations, I’d ask, why notgive city life a try? I realize it’s not as simple as that, but if you’re notmarried and just milling around your hometown because that was your default option aftercollege, what’s stopping you from applying for jobs in the nearest city? I know thatwhen I was growing up, my friends and I kind of used that as a motivation. Not that wedidn’t love the place where we grew up, but we were determined that we were“destined” for something greater. I think it’s a lot easier for a kid tocultivate that kind of ambition driving down a desolate country road at night than staringout the bedroom of an Upper East side highrise.Iscity living for everyone? No, absolutely not. But it is worth trying, because it’shard to know what you’re missing until you’re living it. Besides, your ruralresourcefulness will come in handy (you can find places to fish and hike in almost anycity). Worst-case scenario, if you don’t like it, you can always head backhome. Continue Reading

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