Even though rural areas don’t have a ton of public entertainment avenues, the absence of mindless time-wasters is arguably is one of its best qualities.  The other day I was talking to a friend who condescendingly told me that she would never live any further than 10 minutes from “civilization”- referring to movie theaters, restaurants, and shopping malls. These types of people that I lovingly refer to as “city slickers,” who think there is nothing to do in the country, have no idea of the culture that they miss out on. You see, because there are no theaters or bowling alleys within 30 minutes of our house, we are forced to have parties.

  Instead of leaving their houses to have fun, country folks bring the fun to their houses. Ever wonder why Southerners generally have better manners than Northerners? They socially interact with each other, meet new people, and have fun with their old friends, all without public entertainment.  Public entertainment can suck away our precious time if we are not careful.  For instance, it’s difficult to get to know someone while sitting in a theater where talking is prohibited.

The general agreement is that life moves faster in cities than in the country. I’d say this is because people in cities have grown accustomed to constant entertainment; something always has to be going on, and people flurry from one source of entertainment to another. In the country, value is placed on spending time with people and face to face interaction.

This Saturday, as my friend heads to the movies to hole up in a dark room to stare at a screen for two hours, I’ll be hanging out with a bunch of my friends and their families in someone’s backyard, enjoying the fall weather. This weekend, it’s an apple cider-making party. Last weekend, there was a bonfire. People will always like to have fun, so anywhere there are people, there will be ways to have fun. While there is nothing wrong with the city way of life, the country is unique because of the way the people use what they have and enjoy each other. This is one of the reasons it is such an awesome place.