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What has irritated me in the past is when someone that has lived most or all of their lives in a suburban/city environment with all of the silly laws and restrictions that come along with that, move out in the country and then try to force all of those restrictions on the local rural residents. For example, living in a subdivision with restrictions such as restrictions on barking dogs or loud machinery. Also, city ordinances such as leash laws for dogs and shooting guns. In the past we have had a few move out thinking they wanted to "live the country life." Once they get out there they almost immediately start complaining about everyone's dogs and noise from tractors or machinery at 6:00 AM.
My personal favorite was the lady we had move down the road that called the police because she heard gunshots. lol The officer told her she better get used to hearing rifles and shot guns being fired and dogs barking. He was cracking jokes about her when he came to talk to us about her calling. I finally told her to go **** herself when she called bitching about something after about 6 months of dealing with her nonsense. She was shocked I guess and said excuse me, what did you say and I repeated Go **** yourself. She didn't call me anymore and put her house up for sale and moved back to the suburbs in a subdivision the following summer. We still all get a good laugh talking about her from time to time.
Strange; in my life the worst places for aggressive, loose dogs, as well as excessive barking, were suburbs and other heavily-peopled places. Suburbs and towns where there were leash laws. NOT rural areas. Some dog owners don’t bother to think their precious could hurt, damage, or annoy. They treat dogs as pampered children. That tends NOT to be the case in rural areas.
I bet darned near every household in my area has guns, as do we. We hear gunshots occasionally, likely from a home where someone set up a practicing range. But nobody fires guns frequently; most do consider and respect their neighbors’ lives, too.
As vigorously as some posters try to turn it into a City vs Country war, the underlying problem has more to do with basic personality traits than location.
I moved to a very rural area where the closest town only has about 200 people in it total, and the next nearest town is 20 min. away. Outside the town of 200, where I live, there are only about 15 other neighbors, some 1/4 mile away, others a couple miles away. So that's the background.
When we moved here we simply waved and smiled at everyone we drove past, nearby, and if we ran into someone while taking a walk on the country road we'd stop and say hi, be friendly. But since we're introverts we did not invite anyone over, nor did they invite us to their homes.
We made one local friend right away and he saw that we were nice people and respectful and considerate of others, and that helped at least get the word out that we weren't jerks.
But by and large we didn't make any other local friends until our 3rd year here. That's because we got involved in an association of neighbors who wanted to help fix the road. Once we did that then we were getting invites to other members' homes, barbecues and etc. And we then invited a few of them over to visit us.
We're still introverts and don't really socialize much (I particularly am burnt-out quickly by socializing; I have had brain damage so that's part of it), but at least now we feel more connected to the community and talk to our neighbors.
Where we live people are NOT outgoingly friendly to new neighbors, so I think we did it right by just being friendly when passing them on the road, and just waiting for friendships or acquaintance-ships to develop "organically".
As has been mentioned in other posts, I think the biggest mistake is to move in to a place and complaining about how the people do things or don't do things. If you're a city slicker and come and start telling them they "should" do this or "should" do that, you're not going to be liked.
I think another thing that may go for ANYwhere you move to, but perhaps especially to rural areas is to avoid talking politics and political hot points like abortion or immigration etc. If the subject comes up I just say "I'm really not into politics".
It's a bit more difficult to deal with religious views. If the people around you are religious fanatics they may ONLY like you if you are of the same religion. I probably would simply not move to a place where religious fanatics live. Religious is fine, fanaticism is not (imho). If asked about my religion (I'm an agnostic/atheist) I just say "I believe in the Golden Rule, love, and kindness." This seems to satisfy people that I'm not "of the devil" or anti-God. IF they were to press me on it (this seldom happens) I say that I believe in God but am not "religious" (a white lie because I do believe in a higher power of some sort). Beyond that I just will say "I prefer not to discuss religion [or politics]" and change the subject. In today's world I think it does no good or little good to discuss these things, especially if you want to make friends. And if my friends believe the same as me, I still would just as soon not discuss politics and religion.
Btw, as another side note, I have NEVER understood why someone would want to move someplace because they found it attractive, and then try to CHANGE that! Well, I could understand it we are talking about someone who was "forced" to move because of a spouse's job or family situation, but if someone voluntarily moved there . . . smh.
I think I can answer that as I know many people who move and then want to change things.
What they feel is that the place could be better by changing some things.
Like where I live, people are constantly burning things, even entire fields, and the smoke not only stinks but can cause me to have asthma and even make my house stink inside the house when the smoke is thick.
I think the government should stop allowing major burning. It's no good for the environment and no good for health. Yet I am not going on a campaign or telling everyone to stop burning; I know it isn't likely to be changed. But yes, it's something I don't like about this place even though I like MOST things about it.
But yeah, basically, if you don't like the way things are in a place, don't move there.
But sometimes what happens is that one is not aware of certain customs or practices until after one makes the move. I had spent much time where we live now before we moved here. But I was not aware of the burning problem until after I lived here. Just was never here on a day when someone was burning stuff.
So one should talk to neighbors and ask a LOT of questions before moving to a new place!
I think I can answer that as I know many people who move and then want to change things.
Like where I live, people are constantly burning things, even entire fields, and the smoke not only stinks but can cause me to have asthma and even make my house stink inside the house when the smoke is thick.
I think the government should stop allowing major burning. It's no good for the environment and no good for health. Yet I am not going on a campaign or telling everyone to stop burning; I know it isn't likely to be changed. But yes, it's something I don't like about this place even though I like MOST things about it.
This is why locals in small towns dislike new comers. They move in, and want to make changes.
Apparently you moved into a farming community, and are not happy with the farmers farming their land.
The reason farmers burn their fields, to kill off diseases that get on the soil and stubble with some crops. Other wise they may lose the next years crop.
What has irritated me in the past is when someone that has lived most or all of their lives in a suburban/city environment with all of the silly laws and restrictions that come along with that, move out in the country and then try to force all of those restrictions on the local rural residents. For example, living in a subdivision with restrictions such as restrictions on barking dogs or loud machinery. Also, city ordinances such as leash laws for dogs and shooting guns. In the past we have had a few move out thinking they wanted to "live the country life." Once they get out there they almost immediately start complaining about everyone's dogs and noise from tractors or machinery at 6:00 AM.
My personal favorite was the lady we had move down the road that called the police because she heard gunshots. lol The officer told her she better get used to hearing rifles and shot guns being fired and dogs barking. He was cracking jokes about her when he came to talk to us about her calling. I finally told her to go **** herself when she called bitching about something after about 6 months of dealing with her nonsense. She was shocked I guess and said excuse me, what did you say and I repeated Go **** yourself. She didn't call me anymore and put her house up for sale and moved back to the suburbs in a subdivision the following summer. We still all get a good laugh talking about her from time to time.
We had one of those. There are 7 properties on our road. Five of us are gun owners and of course there is shooting on occasions. We all shoot where there is a back guard or bank away from any houses so no stray bullets. After a few years of complaining they finally moved. Funny thing is there is a HOA development across the highway from where I live and this guy moved from there because of the restrictions, yet he wants to restrict what other homeowners do within the law. The other transplant looked at property in the HOA but didnt want the restrictions either yet complains about us getting mud or horse poop on the gravel road.
I think I can answer that as I know many people who move and then want to change things.
What they feel is that the place could be better by changing some things.
Like where I live, people are constantly burning things, even entire fields, and the smoke not only stinks but can cause me to have asthma and even make my house stink inside the house when the smoke is thick.
I think the government should stop allowing major burning. It's no good for the environment and no good for health. Yet I am not going on a campaign or telling everyone to stop burning; I know it isn't likely to be changed. But yes, it's something I don't like about this place even though I like MOST things about it.
But yeah, basically, if you don't like the way things are in a place, don't move there.
But sometimes what happens is that one is not aware of certain customs or practices until after one makes the move. I had spent much time where we live now before we moved here. But I was not aware of the burning problem until after I lived here. Just was never here on a day when someone was burning stuff.
So one should talk to neighbors and ask a LOT of questions before moving to a new place!
We did our homework before moving out to the ranch. And we also acknowledged that there were things that we would be likely to miss, surprises, and that when one of those turned up, WE were the ones who should adapt, not the people who'd lived here for generations. Worked out pretty well for us.
This is why locals in small towns dislike new comers. They move in, and want to make changes.
Apparently you moved into a farming community, and are not happy with the farmers farming their land.
The reason farmers burn their fields, to kill off diseases that get on the soil and stubble with some crops. Other wise they may lose the next years crop.
I see your point, but is burning really the only way, even when it's bad for human health and the health of the environment?
Sometimes some things do need to be changed.
But like I said, I didn't know this went along with living in a farming community or I'd probably not have bought the property. Sometimes things pop up after you buy a place that your research did not prepare you for.
BUT... I'll note here that I am NOT trying to change it. It's just something I wish they didn't do.
I see your point, but is burning really the only way, even when it's bad for human health and the health of the environment?
Sometimes some things do need to be changed.
But like I said, I didn't know this went along with living in a farming community or I'd probably not have bought the property. Sometimes things pop up after you buy a place that your research did not prepare you for.
BUT... I'll note here that I am NOT trying to change it. It's just something I wish they didn't do.
One of the things I noticed when we moved out to the country. I would read the small newspaper that covered the area. I also for some reason started reading the obituaries, and noticed a pattern. All those people that died in the country that had lived there all their lives (burning and everything)? Not one of them, other than an auto accident or some such, died at less than the age of 80. Not one. So maybe the burning that's been going on most likely for generations isn't as bad for your health as you were told. Check out your local obituaries for a while and see.
I see your point, but is burning really the only way, even when it's bad for human health and the health of the environment?
Sometimes some things do need to be changed.
But like I said, I didn't know this went along with living in a farming community or I'd probably not have bought the property. Sometimes things pop up after you buy a place that your research did not prepare you for.
BUT... I'll note here that I am NOT trying to change it. It's just something I wish they didn't do.
Sometimes controlled burns are the only way. We are now clearing phragmites (an invasive marsh plant) from a marsh and the procedure is to hit the plants with a RoundUp derivative in the mid-Fall followed by controlled burning three to five weeks later.
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Well, I could understand it we are talking about someone who was "forced" to move because of a spouse's job or family situation, but if someone voluntarily moved there . . . smh.
