Thinking about rural

I started this post a few weeks ago, but I thought I'd go ahead and finish it. So, here goes:

I played phone tag last week with Oglethorpe County's EMS director. And I'm glad I did. If he hadn't taken an extra long lunch, I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to talk to his secretary. And I would still be struggling to remember what it was that makes small towns different than large ones.

What, you ask, is the difference? In small towns, people will usually talk to you - about so much different stuff. She knew I was a journalism student, but she still talked about the six-person wreck that happened that day, how many people went to the hospital and which driver probably caused the wreck. No names mentioned, so no HIPPA violations.

I'd forgotten what it was like to live in Cordele, to TALK to people. As a news writer for UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, it's my job to get people talking. And that job's not always easy. I work in a world now of getting the message out - whether it's about a scientist's research, a gardening how-to, an event announcement or something random someone in the college needed an article about. I miss the stories and relationship-building that comes from working in a small-town newspaper.

Now, to be fair, I know people in larger towns will sit down for a chat now and again. But it seems like in a larger city like Athens, we're so much busier, and, while we're so socially and virtually networked, we tend to be so personally disconnected.

Maybe I just miss being nosy. That could be it.