Ah, the unique charm of living in a small town: Everyone knows everyone; most people are related to everyone; and when someone new moves into town, they must be assimilated.
Whoops — perhaps I’ve confused “charm” with an old episode of “Star Trek.”
Almost all my life, I’ve heard people — mostly younger folks — complain about living in a small town. Inevitably, in these conversations, it’s the “nosy neighbor” who is brought up as an offender.
Someone always has an old fart in their neighborhood whom they portray as poking their nose into everyone else’s business, as if this elderly menace sits by a picture window with an Uzi awaiting one wrong move by some cigarette-smoking teenager.I’ve heard this busybody stereotype described as if she or he is parked on a front porch or with a nose pressed against a window, binoculars in hand, notebook and pen nearby, long-lensed camera hanging heavily about the neck, and the phone with the police station’s number on speed dial at the ready.
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