You really know you're in a small town when you call in an order from your office for the special to go from a cafe you go to maybe once a month, don't give your name, and when you get there to pick it up, it's sitting there waiting for you with your name on it.

I miss that!


I always though the answer was:

You know you're in a really small town when......
.........it doesn't even have a Dairy Queen.

I have called a local cafe and they know who I am when I order my usual.

I had an Aggie Buddy from Dallas stop by for a visit. As he traveled back to Dallas, his associate left a laptop computer in a cafe in Claude. He called the sheriff's office the next day and asked the deputy if anyone had turned in a laptop (expecting never to see it again).

He heard the deputy lean away from the phone and ask a secretary in the office "Hey Brenda, did ya'll find a computer last night?". Brenda, who also worked in the cafe, replied in the affirmative.

My brother-in-law who works in Canadian picked it up on his way home from work. The deputy knew my BIL already, so there was no problem with ID. I took it to the UPS store and away it went.

Small town people not only know each other, but they have multiple connections in other small towns.

You do things and go home and tell your parents, and then sit back and see what comes back from the beauty shop. Case in point, let three guys take a girl riding in a car and a massive orgy occured in the caliche pit, including a filmed how to documentary.

I just call and tell them my name the the girls asks if I want my usual.

One time I went into one place with the intention of ordering something different than what I usually ordered. But they never asked me what I wanted. A few minutes after I sat down, they put my usual order in front of me.

I always liked when I dialed a wrong number and then spent 15 minutes visiting with whoever was on the other line.

I miss the Panhandle.

you lock your car in a small town, not b/c of someone stealing it - but b/c you don't want someone giving you a ton of green beans, squash, and corn....

There are two barbers at my barber-shop and both need not ask me how I want my hair cut.

Killer K

You did not used to have to dial 874 for the phone. You just put in the last 4 digits of the phone number and you could get anybody in the town. Clarendon actually had a reverse phone number phonebook before anywho.com

blw, people don't believe me when i tell them we could just dial the last 4.

In the early 70s, we had 16 long distance telephone numbers and 8 local telephone numbers for the house. All on a single party line.

My parents wanted a private line, but it was less expensive to get all four lines of a party line, so they did that instead.

So that was four numbers. Let's call them xxx1, xxx2, xxx3, and xxx4. (I don't remember what they were.)

While the house is in Texas, the telephone service is out of Oklahoma.

The switching equipment wasn't all that great so we could use either the prefix for the Oklahoma side, 338, or the prefix for the Texas side, 339. And we could use either area code, 405 for Oklahoma (then) or 806 for Texas.

Thus, we could dial any of the following long distance:

806-338-xxx1
806-338-xxx2
806-338-xxx3
806-338-xxx4
806-339-xxx1
806-339-xxx2
806-339-xxx3
806-339-xxx4
405-338-xxx1
405-338-xxx2
405-338-xxx3
405-338-xxx4
405-339-xxx1
405-339-xxx2
405-339-xxx3
405-339-xxx4

Also, when placing a long distance call, the operator would come on the line and ask the number you were calling from so they could bill it correctly. That practice continued long after they fixed the above situation.

By the way, for a hilarious telephone story about small time life, checkout http://www.pipeline.com/~richardpence/twolongs.htm.

A brief excerpt (should qualify as fair use):

quote:

---

"Certainly. What is the number, please?" I could tell she still didn't believe me.

"They don't have a number," I mumbled. Like I said, I'd tried to call home before and I knew what was coming.

She was incredulous. "They don't have a number?"

"I don't think so."

"I can't complete the call without a number. Do you have it?" she demanded.

I didn't relish being even more of a bumpkin, but I was in the Navy and I knew authority when I heard it.

"Well . . . the only thing I know is . . . TWO LONGS AND A SHORT."

---

Leckner

I saw your dad in the airport the last month. I did not talk with him because I was eating and he was going to his gate. He looked like he was doing good though.

great read on the phone story!

blw, he's doing all right. running so hard the wheels are liable to fall off. he's been on the road most of the last month.

how're you and yours?

blw-

I remember the 4 number rotary dialing.

I also remember going to Pud's downtown and having a sour lime sitting on my table shortly after arriving and never having to order it.

Everybody feels pretty good. Daddy is going to MD Anderson next month as the normal chemo treatments have not worked so far. He is feeling good so I can live with that. Me and Lani are flying out in the morning to meet my little brother and then drive to College Station. I am taking him to the game for his graduation present. He finally finishes at Colorado State next month. Tell your family I said hi and wish all of you the best

blw-

We are cooking Prime Rib and etc. just South of the Dick Kleburg statue (Red Ass Cookers). Please bring everyone and stop by to eat, my treat.

I am glad to hear that your father's body is still fighting the good fight.


----kyle

I will try to stop by. thanks for the invite

Glad to hear he's feeling good. Hope y'all had fun at the game yesterday. It was cold, but some good football. Dad says hello and to yell at him if you see him again.

Lek,

blw and I had a great time at the game. It was really good to catch up on all the Clarendon gossip. Wish you could have stopped by.

killer

Thanks again for the invite, I had a great time as did my family. I am still in Austin and getting some funny looks in my Aggie cap and shirt.

While in Austin, I am sure there are no t-shirts that are mouthing off at this point!!

wmka89 at y hoo give me a shout and we will work on getting to a BBall game.

next time i will. i was a little busy on friday. that was quite a crowd we had at kyle.

sounds like y'all had a good time.

Lek,

You and blw are always welcome. We may have a tailgate for a Basketball game. I will let you know. Next year, stop by anytime.

Are you going to make any basketball games this season? We are headed to the Texas State game next.

I think I will be there for the Texas State game. I have meetings the week of 10th through the 14th in College Station. I think I owe sombody a beer.

killer, i'm at all the games all the time.



[This message has been edited by Lekner XII (edited 12/1/2007 12:37a).]

I guess I will miss the game. I fly in on Monday night and leave on Friday. Maybe after Christmas I will get to come down for one.

blw, you really did hit the dead week. not a single athletic event that whole week. that is impressive.

quality thread

Lek,

I am sure he has hit a many 'a dead thang in his life.

Guys, we gotta get together for a game after Christmas/New Years. Lek, I would really like to see your Dad. Let me know and I will start a fire and burn some meat.

I wish I could argue but that really is the story of my life. At least I was down for the last game.