Small Town Feel

A nice view of downtown Rome

I am really loving the small town feel. I had an experience at the bank with the drive-thru teller this morning that reminded me again of why I love living in a small town.

I went to the bank to make a simple deposit. I had a couple checks to deposit that were made out to Kane. He had signed the back and I was just going to make a quick run through the drive-thru because I had several errands to run.

The guy working the drive through took my deposit slip and when he came back with my receipt he said over his intercom, "So, Kane is your husband?" I thought, umm yeah, is there a problem with the deposit or something? But I just said, "Yes, he is." Then the guy said, "Yeah, I met him a few days ago. He's a nice guy". I said, "Oh, thanks!", but inside I was thinking---I am definitely NOT in Atlanta anymore---that's for sure!

During the five years we lived in Atlanta we used the same bank (same branch location) the entire time we lived there, but not once did any teller ever indicate that she/he recognized me, or Kane or anything. That kind of thing just doesn't happen in the big city.

Then after he told me he had met Kane and knew we had just moved to Rome and that Kane was working at Shorter he pointed to Mara Kate and said, "Is this y'all's daughter?" As I nodded he says over the intercom, still looking into the backseat, "What is your name sweetie?".

She smiled and said, "MARA (pause) KATE!" (side note: I think she has learned to say it slowly so people will get it. Even at her young age she has learned that if she says her name too fast no one ever understands her the first time.) Then he waved and her and smiled. It was so sweet. Then he looked back at me and said, "Can I give her a sucker?" I said, sure that would be fine so he handed over a green sucker. Well, if you know Mara Kate you know that green is her absolute favorite color so when I handed it back to her I said, "Look! It's your favorite color" and the guy said over the intercom, "Mine too! Y'all have a great day!"

It felt nice to be "known" already by someone in Rome. Being so new and feeling like I don't know anyone, I have felt very welcomed by these types of interactions. It seems like wherever you go, people take the time to be a little extra friendly. It's really nice for a change. And, I realized, in Atlanta, I always felt like I was in a hurry too because it always took so long to get where I was headed. But, this morning, it didn't bother me a bit that I took an extra minute to talk with the teller, because there were no cars in line in front of me when I arrived and it only took me a few minutes to get to my next destination with no traffic delaying me on the way. Ahh...it was so nice!