City Slicker
City Slicker
After high school, Moving to the city was what the young people, from my hometown, were doing in the sixties. Yay! General Motors in Ontario was hiring all those hard working country boys and lots of work there for their girlfriends or spouses.
This was going to be great, taking in the night life and doing whatever I wanted without worrying what the neighbours might think. I could even miss church and no one would notice. Immediately I loved the concrete jungle with asphalt and cement covering every inch of what was once green space.
But not so fast girl. Big city life is expensive and until you meet friends it can be lonely. A million people around you and not a friendly familiar face.
Luckily a few friends from my hometown were living in Toronto or nearby Oshawa. We had our own little ‘Down East Club’ gathering every Saturday night at the Red Barn dance hall or in warmer weather, Sundays at a park. Those were the good times but gradually it swindled as folks moved back East, divorced or passed away.
My sojourn in the big city lasted longer than I ever intended to stay. I was a thousand miles away from my parents and only saw them once a year but I made a life there and had a good occupation.
Would I do it again? Not if I had my druthers~ but hindsight is great.
After thirty years of moving to the city, I left without any regrets and came back to the country. All the reasons to come back are now gone but I feel I belong here.
Going back to the city to visit old friends was not the same ~ the traffic is horrific and the population seems to have doubled.
...end of freewrite with prompt moving to the city.
Above photo from my last airplane ride to Toronto, Canada.
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People change and so do cities. And every city is not the same. Some neighbourhoods can almost feel a like a small town and some like the apocalypse. You gotta be choosy and you gotta be careful and proactive to keep the city wonderful. I think a lot of governments have dropped the ball there. I understand the allure of country more and more these days.
Fantastic write, Jo:)
Well said, @prydefoltz!
And this, sadly: you came back to the country. All the reasons to come back are now gone - people die, local schools close, businesses change hands or get torn down. My grandparents' generation died off; now my parents are the last of their generation, and I am entering the phase of Old Timers.
*"but I feel I belong here"
Knowing where we belong -- there's so much to be said for that. :)
Thanks so much Carol. it seems time waits for no one. There’s a Scottish song “These are my Mountains’ with the words,
“ I came back with my treasures only to find, they’re less than the pleasures I first left behind.”
Thanks Pryde. @prydefoltz. One gets used to the traffic and crowds and I did love being able to walk to the coffee shops and some stores. 😊
I am also moving to the city. But i memorized sometimes this place, friends and relatives. Nice theme in life.
Thanks! Sometimes one has to make changes. I hope everything works out well Kam.
There will always be changes and we make the change and face changes as best as we can cope with it. When I left home to study some place else, I miss home already. After my studies, I came home again and missed school and people I have made friends with. Change and circumstance take us places and put us in different situations and we make the best of it.
Change can be good and opens us to all kind of different experiences and meeting people. We just have to learn to roll with it all and see the positive side. 😊
Thank you for sharing @redheadpei,
I can see that was a big part of your life and glad you came back to the island.
Hi Christopher! 😊 You are a long way from your childhood home too in Korea and have made a good life for yourself and your family.
Especially the traffic! I also noticed that if you live in.the country you easily visit those in the city. You do not care about the distance, but the other way round!
☘💕
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True Kitty. I go into the city quite often here but it is small - 35,000 people but going to Toronto is a whole difference ballgame and just getting out of the airport is crazy.
I moved to the big city when I was 20, then to another big city, and it wasn't until my late 30's that I came to my senses and got the hell out of there! Now I can hardly make myself go back. The traffic, the noise, the people absolutely everywhere. I am used to the quiet now. Except for the animals rioting on the floor behind me as I am trying to type this!
lol...I agree, the big cities are a huge hassle these days with all the messed up traffic, I'll take the peace of the country!