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People Who've Known Someone On 'To Catch A Predator' Describe What They Were Like

People Who've Known Someone On 'To Catch A Predator' Describe What They Were Like
Image by Comfreak from Pixabay

To "Catch a Predator" is a classic. It transcended your run of the mill reality tv/crime drama story.

Chris Hansen and his crew reeled us in like we were part of the bust. We were ALL the UCs (that's undercovers... thank you Law & Order:SVU) and it felt like we got the bad guys in real time.

And Lord were there plenty of bad guys. Most importantly it shined a light on how to be more aware of danger in this age of the internet. That was when danger took a turn.

Redditor u/BreakupSimulatorLite wanted to hear about the behind the scenes on the iconic show by asking:

Redditors who knew men caught on "To Catch a Predator" before the show, what were they like?

***ATTENTION- ADULT MATERIAL GOING FORWARD***

I read somewhere that that show caught over 400 peeps. That is an extraordinary accomplishment. That show did an amazing amount of good. And also showed us just how low humanity has sunk.

Covenant Transport.

"One guy showed up to the sting in a company semi-truck. It is blurred out in the episode but the company is Covenant Transport. I went to work for them a few years after the episode. During orientation, they gave us a list of "things that will result in immediate termination. Things like "Driving under the influence, failing a drug screen, and impromptu meetings with Chris Hansen."

- zombiemann

Jurors

"I met the ex-wife of a police officer that was on To Catch a Predator a few years ago. We were both prospective jurors for a sex crime. She was dismissed because of her relationship to the law enforcement profession and because her ex-husband was involved in a sex crime. She had to discuss the whole story to the entire court during voir dire."

- Dreaming_Vagabond

The Lingering

"A supervisor at my previous job got busted in a big sting at the end of last year, with a bunch of other dudes. He was kinda dumpy in appearance but thought he was hot crap. Both at the job and with the women. He wasn't. There were more than a few who transferred out of his area or specifically asked not to work directly with him."

"A couple of them said he just creeped them out and let his touch linger longer than was polite. He was just another crap to me. One of those guys that never did anything unless the boss was around, liked to be the one at the company meetings who told everyone to quiet down and listen up when it was already quiet."

- Blue_E_Tank

Be careful out there everyone!

"This was over a decade ago back in 2008 or 2009. I was on a dating website and was talking to a guy that claimed to be a doctor. I thought it was very unusual that this doctor (Maurice Wolin), had so much free time throughout the day to text me so frequently (texting back then was a bit time-consuming with flip phones). Was also begging me to meet up with him and telling me he wanted to shower me with all these gifts. He seemed a bit arrogant and pompous to me, in the way he would brag about his wealth and cars."

"I was getting suspicious of the guy and reverse searched his phone number. I found out he gave me a fake name, and after getting his real name, I saw all the articles online and saw the guy was on TCAP. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and asked him to send me a new selfie. Sure enough, it was definitely him. I ghosted him and blocked his number and reported his profile to Plenty of Fish and told them he was on TCAP. Just really glad I never met up with him. Be careful out there everyone!"

- CalcifersMyHero

Alabama...

"I knew the cop from (I think Florala) Alabama that was arrested on the show. He had guns and rope in his vehicle when he went to meet the girl. Super creepy stuff. When he was a sheriff's deputy in Florida, he would come into my job frequently. So, I didn't know him on a personal level, but I did talk to him on a regular basis."

"He was a really nice, respectful guy; he seemed to be a good cop too. I was SHOCKED when I saw the episode. You never really know what goes on in someone's bedroom. Here is part of the episode - https://youtu.be/83BoaCfp9EI"

- leejo1979

Why are people like this? And why do they always seem nice? Nice. Never trust nice. Well, never trust anyone at this point.

University

"I was one dudes RA in university. He was a seriously weird dude, but was relatively friendly, came out to all of the campus events, and was not suspected of being a predator at all by any of us in the dorms back in those days. He was busted on TCAP about 2-3 years after I graduated, so probably sometime 2003-2005."

- unittwentyfive

The Voice

"I fortunately don't know any predators, but I did work with a young woman who had worked on the show--she did the post production voiceovers for the catfishing texts between the detectives and the predators. She was the voice of the non-existent teen girl. Like the "oh I don't know much about sex, I'm only 13 lol" stuff."

"Apparently she was a production assistant or intern at the production office, and one of the producers was like, "We need somebody with a young-sounding voice--you, say something" and she did, and he was like "Perfect! Come with me" and she recorded all the dialogue. Right after she told a bunch of us at work (this was a couple years later at a different job) I went home that night and watched an episode and could tell it absolutely was her voice. Hilarious."

- david-saint-hubbins

Matty

"Yes, Matty Nash. He was creepy and kept trying to get me to go to Burning Man. When I told him I didn't think that was a good idea because I had a 10 year old kid at the time he said I should bring my kid. Now I don't think he was interested in my kid at all but I did tell him I thought that would be super creepy to bring a kid to Burning Man with a bunch of people on E. This was in 2001. He came over to my house under the guise of talking business and then put the moves on me. I turned him down and sent him home to his wife."

- Immorefunthanyou

Nickelodeon...

"I didn't know the person directly, but I worked at a company that had an employee caught on the show. This was particularly problematic, as the company was Nickelodeon Animation. Everyone who knew the guy was actually pretty shocked. It was particularly rough for his girlfriend at the time, as she also worked at the studio, so there was no hiding from it."

"For their part, Nickelodeon instituted rigorous background checks for every new employee after the incident, with zero tolerance for any misdeeds involving children. Those background checks are what keeps this lore alive though, as the process if much more intensive than any other studio."

- SidePullSandwich

The Dad

"I just knew a kid who's dad was on the show when we were in middle school. Always felt really bad for the kid and his family."

- EEvanCondron

I See Herbert

"Oh I can actually answer this one. He legit was always trying to sleep with men that were way too young for him (albeit just barely legal) and we made jokes all the time to him about how he was going to wind up on that show. We literally called him Herbert. It was the opposite of a "he was the last person I would suspect" situation."

- some-seventy-years

Gotcha!

"Never heard of this show so I googled it."

"Why did To Catch a Predator get Cancelled? Cancellation. The show was cancelled in 2008, in part because Louis Conradt, an assistant district attorney in Rockwall County, Texas, shot himself after he was caught talking to and exchanging pictures with a Perverted-Justice volunteer posing as a 13-year-old boy. HAHAHA WOW WTF!!"

- Striking-Platypus-98

In the Navy

"I don't think he was on the show, but when I was waiting to leave for Navy bootcamp, one of the recruiters was caught in a sting operation. He thought he was texting and meeting up with a teenage girl and went to meet her during work, while in uniform, and in his government vehicle. I know he was arrested but I don't know what happened besides that his wife divorced him iirc."

- psyk0delic

He was Sweet

"Actually a friend of mine's roommate ended up being one. He was super normal and kind of good looking. He had a girlfriend as well. The only odd thing about him was that he had inherited a bunch of money from his family all in cash. Aside from that he was in his 20s and you'd never think it at all. He was one of the ones that thought he was meeting a 16 year old girl or something like that. He also wasn't very bright."

- vorpalglorp

Family Entanglement

"It was my best friend's dad. I slept over there all the time as a kid and hung out. He was relatively normal to be honest. Worked a lot. My friend and I recall getting on their home computer when we were younger and there were pictures of trips to Thailand and it looked like he was at some strip club."

"The strippers looked like children but we didn't think anything of it because we were kids and figured the women looked younger in Thailand. They ended up moving out to California and he got caught on the show during my junior year of college. He called my family and all of the other families to explain that he never did anything to us. As far as I know he didn't."

- cslay1206

Bless You

"I didn't know him personally, but he went to the same church as me (when my parents forced me to be religious), and I never knew he existed. He tried to lure an 11 year old girl from the internet to the local park, pretending to be her age, but that 11 year old girl was actually a 19 year old dude (I think that was his age) who had known about him being a creep, and wanted to turn him in to police for it."

- UnwoundSteak17

Mom's Wheels...

"There was a kid who went to my middle school who went to meet up with this "14 yr old girl" who he told he was 21 for some reason (He was actually 13). He took his mom's mini van and drove about 20 miles to go see her. I don't think they ever aired that episode, but I remember hearing Chris Hansen and the rest of the Perverted Justice team were PISSED."

"Officers called his mom and that was pretty much the end of it. He was at school the following Monday and it was almost like it never even happened lol. It was the talk around my small town down there in GA though. I'm still friends with him on Facebook. He's married with a few kids now."

- OldNational

Mr. Babst

"Anyone remember Walter Babst? He was the high school teacher that got busted on the show THEN WENT BACK TO WORK for a few days. I went to that high school, but I was never in one of his classes, so I can't exactly comment on how he was before."

- shuttyt

Creep Catchers...

"There's a local one called Creep catchers in hometown area and a co-worker was on it. He was very quiet and strange, you'd say good morning to him and he would ignore you. He was 23 years old and got caught emailing a so called "13 year old girl" which in reality were the guys on "Creep catchers."

"He talked about sex, and what he wanted to do with her over email and they made a meet up spot, sure enough he shows up and these guys absolutely roast him on camera. He ended up quitting the company that week because management saw the video and asked him to leave."

- Crazylivykid

Normal

"Normal dude, loved his girlfriend, working on his car, that sort of thing. I worked with him for two years and had no indication, we went to lunch, hung out, had good conversations. Then years later I walk into work and the boss asks if I still talk to him. Nah lost touch with him a few years back. Why?"

"Then he showed me the video on the web. It was crazy. I remember thinking his eyes were different, like he broke and lost something along the way. Now the other psycho that had worked there we all knew right away. That dude was was messed up."

- funktopus

I hope this show or a similar show picks back up. We need these people exposed often. The internet is just getting crazier.

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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?