Do You Get Defensive About Being From Nebraska? (Omaha, McCook: motel, lawyers)

[Kootr]

Originally Posted by JustMe_T3K

Even in the smallest town, having to drive even 60 miles to "services" is just like the people in a big city. See 60 miles here is 60 minutes or less.
In big cities 60 miles could take half a day.

A person running a 1,000+ acre farm/ranch is only alone if they want to be. The rest have wives, family, friends and employees that get to live on site.

How many jobs in the big cities give you a free house to live in, a horse to ride, all the steaks you can eat, no traffic jams, I could go on all day.

Living in a low population area is not for everyone the same as big city life is not for everyone.
PS I have a 3 year old car with full coverage. Six months of insurance costs me same and one month for my buddies in Detroit. (Almost the same age and vehicle value.)

I don't know if you've ever lived in a large city, but living in a large city never requires driving 60 miles, or 60 minutes, or half a day to get to services. In large cities there are always services nearby; e.g. many dozens of service stations, car dealerships, banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants, dentists, barber shops, etc. within just a few minutes. For example, my primary home is in Plano, TX (which has a population of about 250K and is a suburb of Dallas which has 6.6 million people in the DFW metro area). Within 10 minutes of where I live I have a dozen hospitals, dozens of shopping malls with thousands of stores offering everything imaginable, hundreds of restaurants, multiple Lowes Hardware and Home Depot stores, dozens of car dealerships, banks, barber shops, golf courses, etc., etc. I can drive only 3 minutes and be in Dallas city limits...or I can drive 3 minutes and be in open countryside seeing cattle, crops, lakes, streams, etc. And I don't ever have to get on a highway or drive more than 40mph...and there's never a traffic jamb.

The only time I would ever need to get on a highway or spend a little more time traveling would be if I wanted to go see one of the many Dallas professional sports teams play, or go to a Winston Cup car race, or attend a play, or go to the zoo, etc., etc., which might be in another part of the Metro. I even have two major airports within 30 minutes of me.

But...as you said (and I agree); "Living in a low population area is not for everyone the same as big city life is not for everyone."

That said, what would concern me most about living in a remote area not near any sizeable city would be the children - how it would hold them back in so many different facets of life from culture to education. I would be concerned that the children might not receive the best education they could get, nor have the opportunity to experience what living in a larger city offers. I can understand how growing up in a small town can be a good thing in many ways, but I wonder if living such a sheltered life is more detrimental than good for children. I would think that a child growing up in a remote tiny town would probably not have parents that would have their children's education uppermost in mind. Do they want their children to get a quality four year college degree...or a professional graduate degree?

I'm guessing that if a child rarely (or never) experiences what large cities have to offer they will likely stay in their small hometown as an adult, or maybe move to another similar size town. And I'm guessing they would probably not have parents that would push their children to get an education beyond high school or maybe a nearby community college. If that's true don't you think these children are certain to end up doing menial type work or manual labor for their income wherever they may end up later in life? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but most parents want their children to become well educated and well-rounded.

I'm curious to know if when a young adult, who has grown up in a remote tiny town, experiences city life (by going to college or into military service or whatever takes them to a large city) one of two things often happens - they simply can't cope and psychologically withdraw and return back home...or they go overboard and get into trouble? I would think these two extremes would be far less likely to happen if a child grows up in at least a medium size city (e.g. 100k-250k population) where he or she could see and learn first-hand how others live, play and work. And how important a quality education is to better themselves and their families compared to their family's previous generations. Also, it just seems (to me) that a child growing up in a tiny remote town would likely have a very difficult time adjusting if he or she ever tried to experience living in a large city.

Do you believe that children who grow up in tiny remote towns end up having been too sheltered when they grow into adulthood? Does the remoteness of where these children grow up prevent them from seeking quality educations and becoming future doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, business leaders, professors, accountants, CEOs, politicians, etc.? Are these children pretty much relegated to staying in small towns with little or no formal education? Do you think a child growing up in a tiny remote town automatically puts them in a particular class or category where it's far more difficult to spread their wings and find their true place in society?

[Gunluvver2]

I think living in a city and living on a farm requires distinctly different mindsets. I grew up on a farm ( now 62). I was the only boy in the family and had two younger sisters so I was Dad's main source of CHEAP labor. I always had daily chores to do from the first I can remember. When I was 4 to 9 years old the chores might take an hour or two a day. That left me an awful lot of time to explore and keep myself from getting bored. This was before TV and video games so a youngster had to be really creative to keep from getting bored. I DID NOT require the presence of OTHER kids to keep busy or entertained. There were ten ZILLION things to keep my mind occupied. I NEVER remember being bored when I was on the farm.

I have two Nephews that have lived in the city (albeit small cities) for most of their lives. For most of the 1970's and 1980's I was in the trucking business and away from home. I owned an acreage in the country with a nice home on it. I arranged for both of my sisters to live on the farm for a two year period when my Nephews were still in their pre-teens (one is now 38 and the other 22). Both of the Nephews had to learn HOW to play without other kids around. They both look back fondly on their experiences while living in the country. My 38 year old Nephew recently told me that the two years he spent living in the country was the best education he ever had. Since he is just a few hours away from his PhD I have to wonder just what it was he was doing on the farm LOL.

GL2

[Hidden Hand]

Originally Posted by Gunluvver2

I think living in a city and living on a farm requires distinctly different mindsets. I grew up on a farm ( now 62). I was the only boy in the family and had two younger sisters so I was Dad's main source of CHEAP labor. I always had daily chores to do from the first I can remember. When I was 4 to 9 years old the chores might take an hour or two a day. That left me an awful lot of time to explore and keep myself from getting bored. This was before TV and video games so a youngster had to be really creative to keep from getting bored. I DID NOT require the presence of OTHER kids to keep busy or entertained. There were ten ZILLION things to keep my mind occupied. I NEVER remember being bored when I was on the farm.

I have two Nephews that have lived in the city (albeit small cities) for most of their lives. For most of the 1970's and 1980's I was in the trucking business and away from home. I owned an acreage in the country with a nice home on it. I arranged for both of my sisters to live on the farm for a two year period when my Nephews were still in their pre-teens (one is now 38 and the other 22). Both of the Nephews had to learn HOW to play without other kids around. They both look back fondly on their experiences while living in the country. My 38 year old Nephew recently told me that the two years he spent living in the country was the best education he ever had. Since he is just a few hours away from his PhD I have to wonder just what it was he was doing on the farm LOL.

GL2

Very interesting story. Did you use well water for consumption while on the farm?

-HH

[roots'nbulbs]

This thread is touching on some of the issues that can plague life in small towns.

KootR: Sans the experience, you're overlooking the fun of the challenge.

I taught high school classes for beaucoup years. Kids, in this small town, did NOT fear the big city like the old 'Meller Drammers' taught you. They almost always headed for Omaha, Lincoln and Denver and points on the coasts, right after their graduations. And, they stayed. Why else would there be a depletion of population??

Our curriculum supported their studies at Universities. My own children have professional degrees from stellar schools like Michigan, Berkeley and Santa Clara. They reported a weakness, in their background, here and there. But, I assume that would be true from most high schools, depending on your luck of programs certain years.

Nevertheless, Hidden Hand is right to laugh at a sheltered majority. It can be very difficult to live, daily, with people who are not up to par with fashionable cities and academia. I could cite some amazing and painful memories of limited vocabularies, jealousies recreating Hester Prynne and potential boredoms. But, listen, I am an educator. This is a challenge to me.

What I would convey, to you, is that those things may go on in suburbs, as well. I would like to convince you that the struggle to contribute venues for world travel, cultural understanding and economic progress is an interesting battle.

As aforementioned, though, not everyone could or would spend their time, in this way. And, it requires a tolerance of sheltered people. Just this: If you wondered how an IQ could stand it, that's the attitude that stands up to it.

And, this-- where I live, I find the company of some world class people. Maybe my parents had a tradition, on the farm, of travel and concerts and Universities and ambition and tolerance and worthy challenges. Maybe, we're not all the same, out here...........

Guess I'm defensive, Huh!

[Kootr]

Originally Posted by roots'nbulbs

This thread is touching on some of the issues that can plague life in small towns.

KootR: Sans the experience, you're overlooking the fun of the challenge.

I taught high school classes for beaucoup years. Kids, in this small town, did NOT fear the big city like the old 'Meller Drammers' taught you. They almost always headed for Omaha, Lincoln and Denver and points on the coasts, right after their graduations. And, they stayed. Why else would there be a depletion of population??

Our curriculum supported their studies at Universities. My own children have professional degrees from stellar schools like Michigan, Berkeley and Santa Clara. They reported a weakness, in their background, here and there. But, I assume that would be true from most high schools, depending on your luck of programs certain years.

Nevertheless, Hidden Hand is right to laugh at a sheltered majority. It can be very difficult to live, daily, with people who are not up to par with fashionable cities and academia. I could cite some amazing and painful memories of limited vocabularies, jealousies recreating Hester Prynne and potential boredoms. But, listen, I am an educator. This is a challenge to me.

What I would convey, to you, is that those things may go on in suburbs, as well. I would like to convince you that the struggle to contribute venues for world travel, cultural understanding and economic progress is an interesting battle.

As aforementioned, though, not everyone could or would spend their time, in this way. And, it requires a tolerance of sheltered people. Just this: If you wondered how an IQ could stand it, that's the attitude that stands up to it.

And, this-- where I live, I find the company of some world class people. Maybe my parents had a tradition, on the farm, of travel and concerts and Universities and ambition and tolerance and worthy challenges. Maybe, we're not all the same, out here...........

Guess I'm defensive, Huh!

It must be a huge challenge alright!

I can't see how these remote areas are able to get quality teachers for one thing. Most of these kids have the innate ability (IQ) to learn...if they have parents that care and help their child, and the parents "know" how important it is that their child get a quality education and push them. But there must be quality teachers available in these remote areas to teach the students too. Something tells me that many parts of the multi-faceted puzzle for a quality education and success are missing...

It makes me wonder how well these students from tiny remote towns are prepared by their teachers if they want to attend a tier 1 university. Are you aware of any students from remote areas ever applying and being accepted at an Ivy League school or even a tier 1 school? Or do most high school graduates (that even go on to get further education) go mostly to very small unknown colleges or technical/community schools?

I would hate to think that my child's high school graduating class had as few as 12 students. That's just not mentally healthy!

[Gunluvver2]

Very interesting story. Did you use well water for consumption while on the farm?

-HH
************************************************** ***************
Yes HH with some of the best water on Earth. Why do you ask?
GL2

[Go Ne]

Originally Posted by Kootr

I don't know if you've ever lived in a large city, but living in a large city never requires driving 60 miles, or 60 minutes, or half a day to get to services. In large cities there are always services nearby; e.g. many dozens of service stations, car dealerships, banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, restaurants, dentists, barber shops, etc. within just a few minutes. For example, my primary home is in Plano, TX (which has a population of about 250K and is a suburb of Dallas which has 6.6 million people in the DFW metro area). Within 10 minutes of where I live I have a dozen hospitals, dozens of shopping malls with thousands of stores offering everything imaginable, hundreds of restaurants, multiple Lowes Hardware and Home Depot stores, dozens of car dealerships, banks, barber shops, golf courses, etc., etc. I can drive only 3 minutes and be in Dallas city limits...or I can drive 3 minutes and be in open countryside seeing cattle, crops, lakes, streams, etc. And I don't ever have to get on a highway or drive more than 40mph...and there's never a traffic jamb.

The only time I would ever need to get on a highway or spend a little more time traveling would be if I wanted to go see one of the many Dallas professional sports teams play, or go to a Winston Cup car race, or attend a play, or go to the zoo, etc., etc., which might be in another part of the Metro. I even have two major airports within 30 minutes of me.

But...as you said (and I agree); "Living in a low population area is not for everyone the same as big city life is not for everyone."

That said, what would concern me most about living in a remote area not near any sizeable city would be the children - how it would hold them back in so many different facets of life from culture to education. I would be concerned that the children might not receive the best education they could get, nor have the opportunity to experience what living in a larger city offers. I can understand how growing up in a small town can be a good thing in many ways, but I wonder if living such a sheltered life is more detrimental than good for children. I would think that a child growing up in a remote tiny town would probably not have parents that would have their children's education uppermost in mind. Do they want their children to get a quality four year college degree...or a professional graduate degree?

I'm guessing that if a child rarely (or never) experiences what large cities have to offer they will likely stay in their small hometown as an adult, or maybe move to another similar size town. And I'm guessing they would probably not have parents that would push their children to get an education beyond high school or maybe a nearby community college. If that's true don't you think these children are certain to end up doing menial type work or manual labor for their income wherever they may end up later in life? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but most parents want their children to become well educated and well-rounded.

I'm curious to know if when a young adult, who has grown up in a remote tiny town, experiences city life (by going to college or into military service or whatever takes them to a large city) one of two things often happens - they simply can't cope and psychologically withdraw and return back home...or they go overboard and get into trouble? I would think these two extremes would be far less likely to happen if a child grows up in at least a medium size city (e.g. 100k-250k population) where he or she could see and learn first-hand how others live, play and work. And how important a quality education is to better themselves and their families compared to their family's previous generations. Also, it just seems (to me) that a child growing up in a tiny remote town would likely have a very difficult time adjusting if he or she ever tried to experience living in a large city.

Do you believe that children who grow up in tiny remote towns end up having been too sheltered when they grow into adulthood? Does the remoteness of where these children grow up prevent them from seeking quality educations and becoming future doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, business leaders, professors, accountants, CEOs, politicians, etc.? Are these children pretty much relegated to staying in small towns with little or no formal education? Do you think a child growing up in a tiny remote town automatically puts them in a particular class or category where it's far more difficult to spread their wings and find their true place in society?

What makes you think that small towns have bad educational systems? Have you ever heard of the states called Arizona, South Carolina and Alabama? All of those states are known for their terrible school systems. Plus, people from small towns often travel to the region's cities to experience cultures, and with the age we live in now you can have anything on the screen sitting in front of you with a few key strokes. And what makes you such an expert on the way Small Town Nebraska families work, or an expert on our school systems? Ben Nelson, one of our current Senators known for being a moderate is from McCook, NE, a town of 7,000. No one in this country is limited due to where they are from. I personally far prefer my Grandparent's town of Plainview, NE to Omaha, but living there isn't exactly possible for me due to me not being old enough to make that decision.

[Go Ne]

Originally Posted by Kootr

It must be a huge challenge alright!

I can't see how these remote areas are able to get quality teachers for one thing. Most of these kids have the innate ability (IQ) to learn...if they have parents that care and help their child, and the parents "know" how important it is that their child get a quality education and push them. But there must be quality teachers available in these remote areas to teach the students too. Something tells me that many parts of the multi-faceted puzzle for a quality education and success are missing...

It makes me wonder how well these students from tiny remote towns are prepared by their teachers if they want to attend a tier 1 university. Are you aware of any students from remote areas ever applying and being accepted at an Ivy League school or even a tier 1 school? Or do most high school graduates (that even go on to get further education) go mostly to very small unknown colleges or technical/community schools?

I would hate to think that my child's high school graduating class had as few as 12 students. That's just not mentally healthy!

How would living in a small town give someone a lesser ability to learn? simply the implication of that is outrageous. And how is it not mentally healthy to have small class sizes?

[Kootr]

The more I learn about rural Nebraska and its people the more impressed I am. I find the Sandhills area (along Hwy 2) most interesting. Tiny little towns like Ellsworth makes me wonder what life would be like living in such a remote area so far away from what I'm used to. I've read about the Arthur grocery store in Arthur, which I understand was started and run by volunteers so people don't have to drive two hours or more round-trip for basic food items. Most interesting!

I found it interesting but also scary how far away medical assistance is from most of the Sandhill area, and how sometimes people must be airlifted by helicopter many miles away for help - sometimes for very minor injuries or ailments. I guess you really need to plan ahead if there's a baby on the way...or maybe each town has a midwife.

I read somewhere that many of the tiny schools only have a dozen children for the entire K-8 school and one teacher handles multiple grades. And going to high school might require such a long commute that a parent or relative might need to rent an apartment just so the child can attend school. Amazing! I definitely would not want to live in such a remote area with children for numerous reasons, primarily the schools and lack of nearby medical/routine care.

It's very nice to hear everyone say how nice the people are living in these tiny little remote towns. It sounds like a great place to live if (in my opinion) you don't have children...and don't mind the cold and snowy winters.

I've learned a little bit more about parts of your great state than I knew before. Hopefully the next time I visit I will take a trip into the Sandhills and check out some of the little towns along Hwy 2 and make sure I stop by the Arthur grocery store to say hello.

[JustMe_T3K]

Originally Posted by Hidden Hand

To imply that the majority of Nebraskans are well traveled, culturally versed and very intelligent is laughable.

-HH

Tell us how you are better then we are !



I see you are listed as in Nebraska. You must hang out with the wrong people if you don't think the majority are very intelligent.

Birds of a feather flock together.