Redditor citytiger asked:
"Redditors that grew up/live in the country what’s something every city kid should know?"
Slow Down
"We aren’t in any hurry and you can’t make us." ~ bigedthebad
No Bull!
"Leave gates how you find them—they are open or closed for a reason." ~ lighted_is_lit
"This is very specific. I won’t forget it." ~ jackof47trades
"It really is so important though!" ~ Dancersep38
"Like really important!" ~ unzinc
GiphyYes, Everyone Knows Each Other
"One time I played a gig in Wisconsin and the dude at the bar says, 'Hey you're not from around here huh?'"
"I said 'How could you tell, my accent?'"
"He said, 'No I just never seen you before'."
"Mind=Blown" ~ DrJawn
"My in-laws' family hails from a tiny Idaho town.
First time I was there with my then-girlfriend, a random old-timer 'downtown' introduced himself and said 'You must be Peggy's granddaughter's boyfriend'."
"He was right, so I asked him how he knew."
"'Well, she said you'd be coming, and you don't look related to anyone here, so... you must be him'." ~ Hititwitharock
Where Your Food Comes From
"Grew up in a very small town in Oklahoma. One 4th of July, was at my inlaws in rural Kansas. My wife’s cousin came up from Orlando, FL with his wife and their 10 yr old son."
"We all went for a walk in the early afternoon up to the barn. The driveway was lined on both sides by corn fields."
"The 10 yr old boy asks, 'What’s that?' pointing to the corn. His mom sort of looked stumped and I said, 'That’s corn'."
"The kid looked at me like I was an idiot and said, 'That’s not corn! Corn is yellow!' Then it hit me that he had no idea where corn came from and neither did his mom."
"I said 'Look it’s corn!' As I went and grabbed an ear and pulled the husk open to reveal the yellow ear of corn inside. That kid looked at me like it was magic. He was blown away."
"I had no idea that there’s a huge number of people that think food just comes from the store and don’t know much beyond that." ~ rylokie
"We had a group of kids come out to our farm on a field trip…the looks on their faces when potatoes magically appeared from the ground was priceless!"
"So important for kids to learn where their food comes from." ~ Timely_Cat_
GiphyAnd Everyone Knows Your Business
"Being in the country has more privacy but far less anonymity." ~ Schu0808
"That's the deal breaker for me. I've lived in medium towns all my life. Never cities and never small towns."
"I always had anonymity, which I treasure."
"I don't want anyone knowing about my business in the detail I'm told small town people know about each other.
"When I go out Friday nights, the only people who know what I do are the people I do it with and tell later."
"That's it. And that's how I want to keep it." ~ throwaway387190
No Sirens Doesn't Mean Silence
"How much noise there is from bugs after dark." ~ Crabser116
"I lived in the country for a few years and I enjoyed the sounds of thousands of insects at night."
"It made me feel like I was somewhere with a relatively healthy ecosystem, which I was." ~ dartfrog11
Giphy"Where I'm at we have loud a** frogs instead of bugs and one minute there'll be a cacophony of frogs and then all of a sudden they just stop."
"Every single frog goes silent."
"It stays that way for a while then they all start back up at once."
"It's downright unnerving. I always wondered if those frogs knew something I didn't."
"I live in an area where you are less than a mile from true, unbroken wilderness, you casually see bears, mountain lions and bobcats and the neighbors call each other to warn of predator sightings."
"You hear things screaming, hooting and howling at night and you have no idea what or where they are." ~ Tru3insanity
"It can actually get insanely loud in the spring and summer."
"The winter gets eerily quiet at night. You can hear a wind chime from a neighbor a hundred yards away." ~ downbleed
Red Solo Cups
"Just because a party is in the middle of the woods or a field doesn't mean the police won't break it up." ~ SamuelDoctor
"Unless the cop is throwing the party." ~ Visible-Ant1949
"I don't know what rural area you’re talking about, but in my area of Arkansas you’d have to set off a small nuke to get an unprompted appearance from the cops." ~ Whiskeywiskerbiscuit
Hello Darkness My Old Friend
"It gets dark. Very dark." ~ bretty666
"This isn't just darkness."
"This is advanced country darkness." ~ zombie_penguin42
Giphy"Oh, country darkness, this really bothered a city friend who grew up in big apartment towers. His first couple of nights in my remote rural/farming area really bothered him."
"He thought 'the nearest people are a mile away, so who is going to know if the criminals break in?'."
"In reality there's no criminals, and no people in that darkness. Just crickets, possums and coyotes."
"In my humble opinion way more peaceful and reassuring than a huge apartment building with 5, 000 strangers under one roof." ~ Thunder_bird
"This!! Omg so much this! You will never know darkness like country darkness."
"There’s something so eery about stepping outside and seeing nothing but pitch black woods." ~ big_ickslap
Common Knowledge
"Don't walk behind a horse, don't touch random metal fences unless you want to get a shock, and everyone you meet either cares too much or couldn’t give a sh*t about you."
"Oh also, no matter how kind a middle-aged woman seems, remember that she's 100% gossiping about you to the other aunts and asking people to pray for you." ~ 1_3A7_W0rM5
"Also do not f'k with cows/bulls."
"They’re cute but will absolutely stomp you dead." ~ leahlikesturtles
All For One And One For All
"If you start a fight with someone in a small town bar you actually just started a fight with the entire bar." ~ degeneratesumbitch
"Don't pick fights or run your mouth to people in small towns that you live in if you just moved there. Chances of you seeing that person again are 100%.
"Getting on people's bad sides in small communities cuts you out of a lot a lot of opportunities in the future."
"Keep your head down, mind your own business and be friendly to everyone." ~ Brancher
"And some of those country boys can throw down in a scrap like you wouldn't believe." ~ FlaccidWeenus
GiphyWildlife Is Wild
"Coyotes are not like dogs—stop feeding them." ~ MikeHuntessHarry69
"Don’t feed any of the animals, except maybe birds."
"Squirrels have sharp teeth people, they will f'k your hands up."
"All those sounds at night are normal."
"Be alarmed if there are no sounds, that’s when sh*t is about to get wild." ~ 30dirtybirdies
"No doubt. If you go out and it's already quiet, be very wary."
"If you're out and it suddenly gets quiet, get back inside ASAP." ~ libra00
"Wait, why? What is it that I should be afraid of?" ~ Cleeecooo
"Usually it means there's a predator around, like a mountain lion."
"In the former case it's probably not near you but that can change rapidly. In the latter case it's probably nearby and may be stalking you." ~ libra00
i
GiphySmall town life really is different.
There are benefits, there are deficits.
It's not for everyone.
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Some of the best advice can also be the weirdest, grossest, or most awkward advice to give. But trust me, being gross can pay off sometimes. U/ImposterIsRed asked:
What's a tip that's NSFW but can save your life?
Let’s start more lowkey, because if you want the best advice, you’ll have to buy us dinner first.
Practice makes perfect.
“If someone is trying to smother you with a pillow, stay very calm. Don't fight it, and turn your head to the left or right. Most smothering deaths are due to the panic rather than an actual loss of air.”
“You know, ever since I was a kid I'd practice this very thing. I always knew in the back of my mind that if just have to pretend to struggle for a bit and then pretend to pass out/die and wait for them to take the pillow off. Just lay there, hold my breath and pretend to be dead. Then, when the coast is clear-ish, make my sloppy grand escape.”
Anything to not die, I GUESS.
Angry Aubrey Plaza GIF by Parks and RecreationGiphy“If you get stabbed with, or impaled on, something sharp and the item stays in you, don't try and remove the item - no matter how instinctively appealing it might be to try and remove it.
The item remaining inside you will increase your chances of reducing blood loss, not developing shock, and staying alive.”
Don’t even f*ck on ‘em.
“If you go to any hotel, no matter how clean the floor and bedding might be. DO NOT SIT NAKED ON THOSE CHAIRS IN THE CORNER OR AT THE DESK. DON'T EVEN HAVE SEX ON THEM ON EM.
THEY'RE THE DIRTIEST PART OF THE ROOM.
Hard to clean a chair than a floor and bedding."
Balls are funny.
“You better believe it's preferable for a doctor to laugh at the lump on your balls that is nothing instead of getting testicular cancer.”
“I built up the courage to get that weird sensation down there checked. The doctor was unavailable, so his replacement comes in and its a guy I went to High School with LMAO. Talk about awkward, but he was very professional and the thing turned out to be a minor infection. So yeah guys, if I could do it then you can too.”
Alright, you asked for it, and we’re delivering. Here are some useful tips for all things steamy.
By steamy, I meant extremely useful.
happy the simpsons GIFGiphy“Condoms can hold up to 3 liters of water if necessary.”
“How much water can they hold if it's not necessary?”
Stay safe.
“If your partner ask for no condom, assume all their previous encounters has been without protection. STD are no joke. Also, if something looks or smells weird, go away."
“A partner that insists you don't need a condom is a very good reason to use a condom."
Well. Sorry if that wasn’t the steamy content you were looking for. But hey, now you’ll be safer in bed. Now let’s get weirder.
Please don’t do this, omg.
Sick Vomit GIF by CBSGiphy“Flared bases, people. Flared bases.
My mother is a nurse and once had to look after a guy whose "friends" stuck a toy where the sun don't shine on his stag do as a "prank". It proceeded bounce around his insides, causing a ruptured bowel as well as a number of other problems. A ruptured bowel can kill you. This guy was lucky.
While his situation was particularly extreme and illustrated the need to choose your friends carefully, this can happen to anyone who is using the wrong toy or the right toy incorrectly.
Hell, this doesn't even have to just refer to sex and/or sex toys. Always be safe and use the right tool for the particular job."
Huh. Good to know.
“If you are ever the victim of a Chlorine Gas attack...
Pee into a towel or handkerchief or something that will retain the urine and use it to cover your mouth, nose and eyes while you search for an exit.
The urea in the urine will neutralize the chlorine gas, rendering it inert, giving you time to save your own life.”
Alright, that's it for some NSFW advice! And if you came here for actual NSFW content….what's wrong with you?
Moral of these stories: never underestimate the power of your own pee. It's amazing what urine can do.
But I have a simple solution.
Just turn on the seat warmer on the passenger seat, and viola – you got yourself a food warmer that will keep your meal nice and toasty in transit.
Such is one example of life hacks. There are many other solutions we don't think about because we are conditioned to overthink things. 
And here's one for all you frozen pot-pie lovers. Eater posted a tweet a while back ensuring the perfect way to enjoy a bite of pie-to-filling ratio was to dislodge the pie from its aluminum tin after cooking and flip it upside down on your plate. Genius move.
Wanting more simplicity in life, Redditor alexarciameyer sought suggestions from strangers on the internet by asking:
"What are some life hacks that you wish you knew before?"
Saving On Your Grocery Bill
"If you want to eat healthy but find you keep throwing out half the fresh food you buy, it's completely fine to buy frozen and canned. It often saves you prep time, you don't really lose any nutrients, and it can drop your food waste to nearly zero. Meaning it can save you a ton of money each month in grocery costs. My own grocery bill was cut by around 50% when I stopped exclusively buying fresh produce and ingredients only to always end up throwing half of it out from spoilage."
Let The Blender Work For You
"That you fill the used blender with water and soap and turn it on to clean itself."
– tfg0at
Now, There's A Twist
"When opening a jar or bottle, don't twist with your dominant hand, just grip it very firmly while twisting with your non-dominant hand. Something something physiology, it's an easier motion and you can open more difficult jars than you'd expect."
Avoid The Sting
"A crumbled up brown paper bag on a string in your window, balcony or porch will keep wasps away."
"They are territorial and will see the area as already occupied because it looks like a nest to them. No need to kill them or use traps, and they will tell their friends and family to avoid your place."
Get Swishy
"Having a glass of water after every meal, snack, coffee, or sofa will significantly improve your dental health. Swish that sh*t out."
Let's Keep It Clean
"if you spread your ass cheeks a little before sitting down on the toilet. You will use a lot less toilet paper cause the sh*t would easily slide through without interfering with your cheeks. I found this on another askreddit."
– ulectco
all stars lol GIF by LifetimeGiphyProper Nuking
"How to properly microwave stuff. I used to put things right in the middle thinking that's where the most heat is, and that's the fastest most efficient method of heating."
"The better way is to put your food item on the edge of the plate so that as it rotates, it's passing through all the hot/cold spots of your microwave and it's getting heated/cooked evenly. This was a game changer for me."
Get Chill
"Freeze or get a colder bottle faster- dampen a paper towel and wrap it around bottle and put in freezer for ten minutes."
A Good Screwing
"Here's a goodin' for ya.."
"Have you ever had that pesky screw which free spins inside its own hole? Welp, there's an easy fix for that. This happens a lot with door hinges.""
Take a few wooden toothpicks broken in halves (assuming the screw is in a wooden fixture) and some Elmer's glue. Put a light coating of glue over the toothpicks, then fill the hole with however many toothpicks you can fit. Wait 30 minutes for the glue to dry. Then, reinsert the screw and screw in normally. Boom! No more stripped screw hole."
It Will Make A Chef Outta You
"Regardless of whether or not you can cook, get a pressure cooker. Just throw random sh*t in there and watch it somehow taste good later."
Spare Your Nostrils
"If you have rotting food in tupperware and dread cleaning it out, freeze it first."
"Then when you're ready, take it out, run water across the bottom of the container to loosen the 'ice,' toss that moldy block into the trash (and toss that trash away), and then clean the container that now smells less and has less crap in it."
Moving That Cursor
"When typing on an iPhone and want to select a certain part of a sentence, hold down the space bar in order to move a cursor rather than trying to tap on that part of the sentence."
– SnooRoar
What's On Your Toothbrush?
"To close the toiletseat before flushing to not have millions of microbacteria float around onto everywhere."
– 0JP1
Taking The High Road
"Always treat someone like they were the victim, even if they are harassing you. It's more likely that you'll end up making a friend than having a fight, by doing this."
"Some people had really sh**ty life's, reached a breaking point and lost it, and the only thing they are looking for is to be understood. Some times, people are having a very bad day and are yearnning for a hug, but just find evil everywhere they look."
"Demand respect from others, but never be an a**hole, even when you can be."
Social Time Saver
"The best way to avoid doing something you don't want to do is to simply say 'I don't want to.' Most people appreciate the honesty, and pushy people can't really argue with your excuses if you don't give them any."