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People Explain What They Hate Most About The World Today

People Explain What They Hate Most About The World Today

There is a lot to hate about the world today. It seems like around every corner, awful news foretelling the end of the world is playing on every screen.

And we are expected to live in the middle of this? 2020 saw the rise of the term "doom scrolling" because the news about the world was so grim.


Redditor u/MeetMeOnNovember asked:

"What do you hate most about the world today?"

Here were some of the answers.

Money Keeps Coming Out

"Everything is subscription now. And I understand why (good, reliable monthly income for a company) but it feels like everything is turning subscription! Movie services make sense, maybe music, but photoshop? Virtual machines?"

"This is very old school of me but I want to buy something once and then own it. I don't want to pay a monthly price for everything."-cloistered_around

Being Honest

"Honesty and admitting wrongdoing is a liability, wherein the risk outweighs the reward."-liquorlanche617

"Car accidents are the worse. The at fault party will try to do EVERYTHING to pretend they weren't at fault. Insurance cards even tell you to never admit fault."

"I got t-boned by somebody who blew a stop sign and I couldn't believe how much she was trying to blame me when I had no stop and she blew thru hers."

"Cops quickly saw she was using every excuse in the book and luckily I had a couple witnesses who backed my truthful story."-Zealousideal-Wall471

The Plot Of Scream 4

"Not the worst (people have already said it), I hate how normalized wanting/needing to be famous on social media purely for validation (and not for your content) has become."

"I don't mean this as a dig, but if you are making content and want to become famous; you should probably have a marketable skill (comedy, acting, singing, anything else) prior to that instead of trying to make one up after you've got a following."-thehotdeskpodcast

The world today can really be an anathema for our peace.

Narcissism

"Lack of empathy everywhere. Dating, platonic social interactions, workplace, online in general people be treating each other like expendables. I don't know why. Or if the world was always this way and I am only noticing as an adult."-throwaway-_-friend

"It's actually lack of compassion more than empathy. Lots of people know how others feel and don't give a sh*t. What is lacking is people who actually care about what others feel."-touchtheclouds

The Worst Kinds Of People

"How much being a sh*t person is actually celebrated and encouraged....I don't understand this one myself. My coworker is one of those girls that prides herself on being a b*tch."

"She proudly states how many people she's ran out of our workplace, and it blows my mind. 33 and proud of being a mean girl... oof. The worst part is how many people encourage her for being like that."-PUTYOURWHATINMYWHAT

Lies Of Life

"My grandfather raised 8 kids supported his wife, and paid a mortgage on a 40-50 hour a week managers salary at Sears. They had a two weeks interstate vacation every year."

"It wasnt anything lavish, usually they went by station wagon to West Virginia (where my grandparents were from) or they went to Venice, Florida or something."

"But it was still two weeks of vacation for TEN PEOPLE. They never took government assistance."

"That is so far from fantasy these days it's not even fathomable. If somebody put that in a movie most people would be unable to suspend their disbelief. In fact it's absurd to even expect I could support just myself with a comparable job today."-nomoredrinkypoo

The Social Life Is Online

"People exploit social issues and mental health awareness on social media and pretend to care by making posts about them saying they care and are there for those people, but they only make those posts to make themselves look good publicly."

"The fact is most of them do absolutely nothing to help in their personal lives and they often ignore and turn their backs on the very people they publicly claim to care about and have empathy for. Actions speak louder than words."-lostwanderer02

The world's ugliness is more on display than ever before.

Engendering Desperation

"So many people will harm/kill others just for a measly amount of money. Even worse a lot just do it for the fun of it, the money wouldn't even matter to them."

"Every software company I get hired at they are scamming their customers and nobody at the company cares. I use to change jobs, but now I just have to find one that scams the least because they all do in my industry."-P3nNam3

Obscure Opinions People Are Fully Committing To | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

We all have a set of beliefs about even the smallest of topics. Like sandwiches should have structural integrity. That's something we can all agree on, right...

It's Coming Down To Nothing More Than Apathy

"Privacy- It scares me that so many people are surrendering to the idea of being constantly monitored at all times. I was talking with a younger coworker about how I will never have an Alexa or any similar device in my home, since cellphones are bad enough."

"He responded very nonchalantly, 'I've just accepted it at this point.' That bothered me very deeply."

"Big box stores over local stores- I also despise how there's a growing acceptance towards big box corporate stores over local stores."

"I know way too many people who will buy literally everything from Amazon, WalMart, etc because they don't feel like going out and shopping."

"I've lived in a large city for many years, and I'm seeing huge corporation chain stores replacing unique, charming, incredible stores that have been in some communities for decades."

"It's not a good feeling or sight to see when every community you go to begins to be an endless repetition. But everything is cheaper!"

"Yeah, everything also breaks more easily, and specialized workers will be replaced by workers that are just numbers on a corporate spreadsheet who know the company doesn't give a damn about them."

"I know I sound grouchy but it is as if I'm seeing a real degradation and no one seems to care because it's easier or that we should just accept that it's happening."-According_To_Me

Cruelty

"How people think it's okay to film you and invade your privacy. I got into a pretty bad car accident in a busy intersection a few years ago and some aholes decided to film me while laughing."

"I was bleeding from my face and obviously in shock from the incident. The accident was so bad that I had to go to therapy and I stopped driving for years after."

"When I'm having a depressive episode, I can't help but think about how cruel some people are."-MurakamiMadeMeDoIt

Shopping For Politics

"It feels like EVERYTHING is politicized now. Case in point: Our local Wal-Mart ran out of plastic bags for a few days last week, and people on our city's Facebook group were literally commenting things like, 'Well, this is because of such-and-such thing the president did. You voted for this.'"

"Like…??! Bruh. Someone didn't order enough bags for the week. The end."

"Joe's not like, sitting in the Oval Office menacingly rubbing his hands together and cackling at his evil mastermind plan of…making a few hundred people carry groceries with no plastic bags. It truly baffles me."-happybex

Back Off Brenda

"People, and specifically that there are so MANY of these grown a** men and women who act like petulant 3 year olds when something they don't like happens."

"Instead, they'll discredit facts, dispute proven science, move the goal post as much as needed to have the world around them fit whatever dumb narrative they're trying to make themselves believe."

"They don't want to face reality, so instead they'll pretend it doesn't exist and imagine one that they like. Worst of all, it makes them easily manipulatable."

"Seriously, if it ever becomes legal to slap people I'll be down to the bone before the end of the first day."-kdebones

The Great Resignation Is Here

"Only because I'm experiencing stress from it right now. My job. My job is so hard. Stressful. And minimum wage. But I can't quit unless I have another most likely shitty minimum wage 40 hour a week job lined up."

"It's a never ending cycle. My life is devoted to working. I don't have vacation days, and can really only call in sick if I really mean it. My life is honestly pointless. Everything is so expensive."

"I'm living with my abusive boyfriend because I can't afford to move out, I can't afford car repairs, I can only save like 20 dollars a pay cheque towards these things. Romaine lettuce is now 7 dollars for 3 heads!!"

"It's so expensive to live sometimes I think it's not even worth it. I'm 31, no desirable skill sets despite trying my best. Applying to every higher paying job to no avail."

"At this point it's unlikely I'll have children because it's too expensive to have them. That's what I hate about the world right now. How it's unfair. I know life isn't fair but that's what I hate about the world right now."-5ky5enberg

It's A Weird Time To Be Joyful

"How vocally miserable everyone is. To be clear, I'm not referring to legitimate injustices or suffering."

"What I'm referring to is how many individuals are jaded, spiteful, and overwhelmingly negative even though they don't necessarily have a reason to be."

"Someone else pointed out young teens going full bore with nihilistic existentialism. That's the kind of sh*t I'm talking about -- when someone just acts miserable, and feels compelled to bring down everyone they encounter."-Inferno8429

Time Marches On And All My Things Break

"Subscription plan, planned obsolescence everything. And the last couple generations being conned into loans/credit instead of outright ownership of things."

"Super unconscionable consumers going after the trendy throw away items, generally using credit. Little appreciation for things that are well built and actual outright ownership of items so now virtually every consumer product is form over function/reliability."

"Generally lasts only a year or two. And the subscription model is actually kind of built in under the guise of an optional 'extended warranty.'"-PilotHistorical6010

America

"I hate that a small group of investors, executives, and professionals are rewarded extremely well for cutting costs by creating dead-end jobs, reducing wages to poverty levels, and selling mediocre products with shiny packaging and advertising."

"Because of this process, everything is extremely boring and low quality. All stores, restaurants look the same. You rarely see anything unique."-Reasonable_Storm3640

The world isn't only ugly, though. The world can have beauty hidden beside the sheer overwhelming darkness of it.

Take a moment to stop and smell the roses, as they say.

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Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe For Some Reason

"Reddit user the_spring_goddess asked: 'What is an old wives tale that people still believe?'"

Close up of an owl tilting their head to side, looking bewildered
Photo by Josh Mills

The old wives' tales.

They are the stories of legend.

I think we all need a big DEEP Google dive though.

Where did they originate?

WHO ARE THE OLD WIVES!

You don't hear about them as much anymore.

It's like science and logic are suddenly a thing.

But they sure are a good way to keep your kids and their behavior in line.

Redditor the_spring_goddess wanted to discuss the tall tales we've all been fed through life, so they asked:

"What is an old wives tale that people still believe?"

"Wait an hour to swim after eating."

What a crock!

So many summer hours wasted.

I want revenge for that one.

Say Nothing

Giphy

"An undercover cop has to tell you he's a cop if you ask him."

LonelyMail5115

"Pretty much most advice when it comes to cops are old wives tales. I’m not even a cop but most of the advice you hear is pretty off."

I_AM_AN_A**HOLE_AMA

Say Something

"That you have to wait 24 hours to report someone missing."

Severe_Airport1426

"I really think this one is important and should be the top regardless. As it’s a piece of advice that needs to be relearned and the only way to do that is through awareness."

crappycurtains

"This used to be true. I think they changed it after some guy named Brandon went missing back in the '80s or '70s. You used to have to wait 24 hours if the missing person was an adult because they had 'a right to be missing' and then everyone realized that was stupid and stopped doing it."

AlbinoShavedGorilla

Body Temps

"That drinking ice cold water after eating oily foods will solidify the oil and permanently remain in your body. I informed my coworker that if your body temperature ever reached that point, you’d have bigger problems than weight gain."

chriseo22

"Oh, I have a cousin who 100% believed this. One of those guys who believed every early 2000s internet rumor and old wives tale. One night I chugged a big glass of ice water after dinner and he started freaking out and saying my guts were gonna harden."

"I sarcastically told him to drive me to the hospital if that happened. Obviously, nothing happened and the next morning I said something like 'Thanks for being on standby in case my guts filled with hardened oil.' He just walked off muttering under his breath."

apocalypticradish

Arms Down

"When I was pregnant, I was told by young and old alike that I should NOT raise my arms above my head or exert myself in such a manner because it could cause cord strangulation to my unborn sons and daughters."

Fatmouse84

10 Years Actually

Unimpressed Uh Huh GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine Giphy

"Chewing gum stays in your stomach for 7 years."

REDDIT

"I remember accidentally swallowing a piece of gum when I was a kid in like 1995 and just accepting my fate like welp, gonna have this in my stomach til high school I guess."

Gecko-911

I was so afraid to sallow my gum when I was young.

This tale is haunting.

High/Low

Hungry Debra Messing GIF by Will & Grace Giphy

"You can tell the sex of the baby by how you carry."

LeastFormal9366

"Pregnancy certainly wins awards for the most old wives tales. So much absolute BS was repeated to us by everyone we talked to."

IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI

The Cursed

"If you’re a woman and you wear opal jewelry but opal is not your birthstone (October), you’ll never be able to have children, or will be widowed, or just generally have bad luck or something. You can counteract this by having a diamond in the same piece of jewelry as the opal, though."

"I have a nice opal ring that my parents gave me years ago, and I’ve had other women give me this 'advice' unprompted more than once when I’ve worn it. I have absolutely no idea where it started, but I’m pretty sure this little chunk of silicate rock has no concept of what month I was born in, let alone of how my reproductive organs work."

SmoreOfBabylon

Stay In

"Going outside with wet hair will make you get pneumonia. Or an earache. Or maybe arthritis. Depends on which old wife you listen to."

"Jokes on them - I haven't blow-dried my hair in decades and usually leave the house with wet hair in the morning. On winter mornings, the tips of my hair get frozen. No ear infections or pneumonia or arthritis yet."

worldbound0514

Dreams and Facts

"You never make anyone up in your dreams you've seen everyone in your dreams somewhere else before and never make anyone up entirely."

"How would you possibly prove that to be true? My partner adamantly believes this and tells me this 'fact' whenever I have a dream about someone I've never met before."

mattshonestreddit

"My late wife used to tell me that before she met me she would have dreams of standing at an alter on her wedding day but could never see the guy's face, no matter how hard she tried. After meeting me the face was filled in with mine. Don't know if it's true but one of those things I like thinking of every now and then when I miss her."

Darthdemented

Cracked

Getting Ready Episode 2 GIF by The Office Giphy

"Some people still believe cracking knuckles causes arthritis."

Choice-Grapefruit-44

"There's a doctor (Donald Unger) that cracked his knuckles a couple of times a day for 60 years, but only on one hand, just to prove it. Both hands remained exactly the same."

MacyTmcterry

I love my knuckles.

Do you have any tall tales to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.

lottery tickets
Erik Mclean on Unsplash

A lot of workers daydream about some day winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their job.

Far too many workers are unhappy with their job duties, workplace dynamics or company culture.

But with a taste for luxuries like housing and food, they keep plugging away, year after year.

However not everyone feels that way about their job.

So what are these compelling careers?

Keep reading... Show less
Therapist talking during session
Photo by Mark Williams on Unsplash

Some people stand firmly stand behind their beliefs that everyone would benefit from therapy and that therapy is life-changing.

It's because of the totally life-changing truth bombs their therapist had dropped during their sessions.

Curious, Redditor anonymiss0018 asked:

"What is a little bombshell your therapist dropped in one of your sessions that completely changed your outlook?"

Communication Issues

"'If you don’t have these problems with any other person in your life, why do you think you’re the problematic person in this one?'"

- maggiebear

"I love this. I have a 'friend' who I always seem to run into misunderstandings with. Every time we had a conversation, it somehow turned into a debate even if it was me talking about my day. The conversations were never easy."

"I always evaluate myself first and take into consideration his critiques. He was very good at convincing me that I was contradicting myself or wasn't good at communicating my thoughts."

"I NEVER had this issue with ANYONE else in my life. I kept trying to figure out where the miscommunication was coming from. In the end, I just minimized contact and now I don't run into this issue."

- chobani_yo

"I read this quote somewhere once (and probably have it a bit wrong): 'It's a waste of time arguing with someone who is determined to misunderstand you.'"

- Reddit

Emotional Regulation

"'You can’t control your emotions, but you can control what you do with them.'"

"At the time, I was a young adult who had learned zero healthy emotional regulation skills (only suppression and shaming) growing up, so this blew my mind."

- lil_mermaid

Tough Relationships

"'It sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to stay with your girlfriend. I'm not so sure it should be so difficult.'"

"At the time he said this, I remember it was like he said, 'The earth is flat.' I thought he was crazy when he suggested relationships don't need to be difficult. But eventually, I started to realize I was trying to change myself to stay with this person rather than just being who I am."

"It took me three more months to finally break up with her but from that day on, I vowed to never again abandon myself just to be with someone I had convinced myself was better than me."

- metric88

High-Stress Situation

"I was at a high-stress time, and I asked her how people live like this."

"She replied, 'Oftentimes they have cardiac events.' She said it as an urging to care for myself as much as possible."

- KittenGr8r

The End of Alcohol

"I was struggling with my alcoholism, and we were discussing how I had been cutting back."

"She asked what I would consider success, with regard to my drinking."

"I said I wanted to get to a point where it wasn't interfering with my daily life. I wanted to just be able to have a glass of wine at holiday dinners or family gatherings."

"She simply asked me why. Why was it important for me to drink at those times?"

"It was as if she'd turned on a light. Alcohol had always been a key ingredient in every family function, for my entire life. When I smell bourbon, I think of my uncle. When I smell vermouth, I think of my dad. Alcohol ran through almost every happy childhood memory."

"But, even more than that, I was very afraid of the explanation I'd have to give when family and friends asked why I wasn't having a drink. I had tried to quit before but failed. What if I admitted my problem, only to fall off the wagon?"

"When she asked why I didn't want to completely quit, it was the first time I saw that last part of the big picture. I'd be willing to drink myself to death in order to avoid being scrutinized, or judged for possible future failures."

"That was the day I quit. I've been sober since May 6th, 2017. 2,407 days."

- sophies_wish

Acceptance vs. Enjoyment

"'Accepting something doesn’t mean you have to like it.'"

"That took away a lot of my inner conflicts about situations because I could accept a situation without expending energy internally fighting against the injustice of it."

- alibelloc

Emotionally Immature Parents

"You are not responsible for your parents' emotional wellbeing. They are independent adults who have been on this earth for many more years than you."

- SmokedPears

Not So Lazy

"'Why do you think you're lazy?' Then she listed off all the things she knows I'm doing for my family, my job, and my life."

"It kind of blew my mind when I struggled to come up with an example."

"She also described family dysfunction as water. Some families are messed up in a way that everyone can see the huge waves across the surface. Others are better at hiding it, but there's still a riptide that you can't see unless you're also in the water."

"It made me realize that trying to keep the surface from ever rippling doesn't erase what is happening underneath."

- flybyknight665

The Harm in People-Pleasing

"'Why do you make people more comfortable when you are uncomfortable?' when talking about people pleasing and fawning."

- ERsandwich

Agree to Disagree

"'Stop trying to get everyone to agree. When you need everyone to agree, the least agreeable person has all the power.'"

This really changed my outlook on planning family events."

- freef

Grieve and Start Anew

"For context, I had a major TBI (traumatic brain injury), seizures, strokes, and all around not a fun brain time when I was 28."

"They said, 'You have to grieve the loss of yourself.'"

"Most people wanted me to go back to how I was. The f**ked up truth is that part of my brain is dead. The person everyone (including myself) knew died. I needed to grieve the loss of myself."

- squeaktoy_la

Multifaceted Identity

"They told me that my job and career is just a way to make money; it's not my life or identity. That took a lot of pressure off me."

- unfairpegasus

Breaking the Cycle

"They validated me."

"'You always talk about not wanting to do to your daughters what your mom did to you. You worry about it so much in every interaction you have ever had with them."

"But your children are 19 and 21 now. They are happy and healthy and they trust you because you’ve never abused them in any way. So I just want to validate for you that you really have broken that cycle of violence."

"You did that. And you should be proud of it. I’m proud of you for it.'"

- puppsmcgee74

The Grieving Process

"I was constantly bringing up how I felt like a completely different person after my mom died... like there was a marked difference between before and after her death."

"But once, she was asking about my hobbies, I got really into describing all the things I loved to do or at least used to do before I got into a deep depression."

"She was like, 'Wow, you seem very passionate.'"

"And I just sat there like, 'Well, I mean, I can't change what I like to do, they're still fun to do.'"

"And it's like she knew when to take a step back, because it was like, wow, I may be super depressed about my mom passing, but I'm still me. I'm still my passions and those don't go away."

"I don't know, maybe it only makes sense to be, but it really started getting me back on track."

- Hannibal680

Sharing the Load

"I've never really had friends. I've had colleagues and classmates and housemates and people who have hung out with me, but I never really felt close to any of them."

"And I did that thing you see on here sometimes; I stopped reaching out to see if I would be reached out to, and I wasn't, which I took as confirmation that they didn't really want me around, or at the very least, that they wouldn't mind my absence."

"I was talking to my therapist about people I'd been close to in college, and she told me to pick one and talk about him. So I did. After I shared some basic stuff like his name and his major etc., and a couple of anecdotes, she asked me what else I knew about him."

"And I couldn't answer. It wasn't really a broadly applicable bombshell, but she said, 'What else?' and I started crying because I realized that for as simple as the question was, my inability to answer spoke volumes."

"I've never had good friends because I've never been a good friend. I'm withdrawn and reserved and I always made others do the work to drag me out, without ever extending my own friendship in a meaningful way in return. If I wanted to have meaningful relationships with other people, I would have to build them."

"I'm still working on this, but I'm trying to make more offers and extend more friendliness to others in my daily life."

- Backupusername

The discoveries in this thread were incredibly touching and profound; it's no wonder these were lasting concepts for these Redditors.

It's important to keep ourselves open to inspiration and insights from others, as we have no idea how their experiences could help us, or how we could help them.

Aerial view of a church in a small town
Sander Weeteling/Unsplash

There's something comforting about living in a small town.

It's characterized by close communities where neighbors know each other by name and there is an abundance of kindness extended to others.

Gift-giving is a commonality, as is the sharing of recipes, and people going out of their way to help each other in a time of need.

The pace of living in small towns is also a striking contradiction to city life, where crowds of people go about their busy lives without much interaction.

Curious to hear more examples of what small town living is like, Redditor official_biz asked:

"What's the most 'small town' thing you've witnessed?"

These are positive examples of a tight-knit community.

Live Updates

"We have a village Facebook page. Every time the ice cream man drives into the village, the entire page goes ballistic. People send live updates of where the van is and which direction he's heading. The ice cream man has started accepting DMs so he knows which streets to go down."

– PyrrhuraMolinae

Brush With The Law

"I’m from a town of less than 2,000 people. When I worked at the grocery store there people would often drop off stuff for my family members because they didn’t want to drive all the way down to our house. I no longer live there but recently got a call from my daughter. She had been stopped for speeding and handed over her license and insurance which happens to be in my mother’s name. The officer goes 'Hey, you’re Donnie’s granddaughter! I ain’t gonna write you a ticket but I’m telling Donnie when I see him tomorrow cause we’re going fishing.' She replied 'I think I’d rather have the ticket.'”

- Reddit

Roadside Catchup

"The traffic on the 'main street' of my town is so sparse, two drivers going opposite directions can stop and talk to each other for a few minutes without causing any problem."

– anon

When things go wrong, people take notice without incident.

Bank Robbery

"A guy robbed a bank and everyone knew immediately who he was and the teller got mad at him."

– AlexRyang

"A local bank was robbed and one of the tellers told the police to bring her a yearbook from about ten years earlier and she would be able to point the robber out. He had been in the grade before hers in school."

– Strict_Condition_632

Wise Woman

"When I worked at the bank in town there was an older lady that had worked there through 5 mergers."

"She knew everyone, there was a young guy yelling at me one day. She walked out of the back and he immediately quieted. She went off about telling his grandmother that he was treating young women like sh*t. She also said that if he didn’t straighten up not one girl in town would ever marry him she would make sure of it."

– ilurvekittens

Intoxicated Local

"Town drunk was paralyzed and used a motorized wheelchair to get around. I was driving home one Saturday night and said town drunk was passed out in his wheelchair doing circles almost directly in the town square. Had to call his brother who came and picked him up on a rollback truck. Strapped him down and drove off into the cold dark night."

– DoodooExplosion

Grazing Over To The Bar

"In my former small town, there was an older guy who'd lost his license after getting a few DUIs. Every day, he would ride his John Deere lawnmower to the corner bar around 3PM and sit around watching TV and sipping his beer well into the night. Then he'd head the couple miles back home on his mower. He even had a little canvass shell he put on when it rained or got too cold."

– brown_pleated_slacks

It's not surprising how small town people behave differently than those who are from metropolitan areas.

Welcoming Committee

"I lived in a small town. When I moved there, people would ask, 'Whose house did you buy?'"

–MoonieNine

"Move to a small town. 30 years later, you are still the new guy."

– impiousdrifter

"I lived in a small town for most of my childhood but I wasn't "from there" because my grandparents weren't from there."

– raisinghellwithtrees

"Worked with an older guy, relative of the owner of the business, he was 73. I asked him if he was a local, he said 'no his parents moved here when he was two.'"

– realneil

A Busy Day

"Lived in a town of about 5,000: A woman walked into the DMV on a Friday, saw that there were 3 people ahead of her and left to come back another time when they weren't so busy."

– KenmoreToast

Who Let The Dogs Out?

"My dogs got out while i was working. the police called my niece's elementary school (she was a 5th grader) to get her to round them up and take them back home."

– mediocrelpn

"There was a small kennel behind the police station for runaways. They called us saying they had our dog, and moments later our dog showed up home. He broke out of jail."

– Worried_Place_917

While life in a small town sounds appealing, I don't know if I can ever live in one.

I'm so used to life in big cities, I think it would be quite unnerving to adjust in a neighborhood where everyone literally knows your business.

I would be paranoid.

And I'm sure the same could be said of life in the big city.

Would you consider making the switch to life in a different setting?