I have lived most of my life in small towns. The last place I lived (25 years) before moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.was a very small town in Kansas where everybody knew everybody else.

     When I moved here I still did "small town" things like giving rides to strangers, helping people carry stuff to their car, telling people where I live, etc. My co-workers would scold me saying "Dorothy, you are not in Kansas anymore.! You can't do stuff like that here." To them, anyone they didn't know was a threat.

     I miss the small-town vibe. I miss walking to work in 10 minutes instead of the hour compute. I miss knowing all my neighbors. Here I only know the names of 2. I miss having friends.instead of acquaintances. I miss being able to call a friend and saying "let's go get a coke" and being able to do that and be back home in 30 minutes.

     So when I say "DG is not in Kansas anymore", it is not with the intention to belittle that state, but rather with a desire to retain the small-town attitude.