Night-time in America's small towns • Hacker News Board

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#41

Post by drivingmenuts » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

One thing that sticks out in my mind is how utterly empty small towns feel late at night. I grew up in a rural area but have lived in larger urban areas since going to college.

Small towns seem like another world after midnight. The lighting is all wrong, there's no sound in your immediate area, there's no life. Unless it has a 24-hour convenience store, it might seem like the place is completely abandoned.

During the day, there's people and life and things happening, but at night, you want to pull your jacket tighter and hunker down a bit, maybe.

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#42

Post by kkajanaku » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:41 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #36

mullen wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the one thing I really love about American culture; once you become a naturalized citizen, you are on Team America. Does not matter where you are from or what you look like, once you take that oath to the Constitution, you're in.

Unless you're brown. Or gay. Or Muslim. Or don't speak English.

+1

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#43

Post by aaron-lebo » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:41 PM UTC

pm90 wrote: post #37

aaron-lebo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on! Isn't the defining separating feature that huge chunk of land called India? :p

I can't tell if you're insinuating that India split the country...yes, once the War started, India did help Bangladesh gain independence. Prior to that however, it was the West Pakistani's who were responsible for incredible atrocities against the Bengali people living in (now) Bangladesh[0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_Blood#The_Blood_telegra...

Well, it was an admittedly lame joke about how the biggest division between Pakistan and Bangladesh is literally India.

Had India not been separating the two, it would have been much easier for West Pakistan to use repression or other means to hold down Bangladesh as long as they'd like.

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#44

Post by thecity2 » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:44 PM UTC

Where it's never gotten past 1955.

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#45

Post by rayiner » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

empath75 wrote: post #36

mullen wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is the one thing I really love about American culture; once you become a naturalized citizen, you are on Team America. Does not matter where you are from or what you look like, once you take that oath to the Constitution, you're in.

Unless you're brown. Or gay. Or Muslim. Or don't speak English.

As a brown person who immigrated to America, I disagree. I have found Americans incredibly accommodating, even in rural Virginia and Georgia.

Americans ask precious little of immigrants: learning the language, waving the flag, etc. In contrast, in almost every country where there is a majority of "brown people," there is nothing a foreigner can do to integrate. Had the situation been reversed, and I was an American immigrant to Bangladesh, people would always stare at me and call me "bideshi."

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#46

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

oftenwrong wrote: post #28

Many of those charming small town main streets like the ones in some of the photos, and the independently owned businesses along them, are in decline, if not already dead. Wal-mart and other big, chain businesses, often located down the highway, are getting all the business, so the small businesses in town cannot survive. Recently, I saw an incredible video about a main street in Mississippi that was basically dead,…

[deleted]

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#47

Post by KevinEldon » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

oftenwrong wrote: post #28

Many of those charming small town main streets like the ones in some of the photos, and the independently owned businesses along them, are in decline, if not already dead. Wal-mart and other big, chain businesses, often located down the highway, are getting all the business, so the small businesses in town cannot survive. Recently, I saw an incredible video about a main street in Mississippi that was basically dead,…

I grew up in a small town (rural Tennessee fewer than 10k people) and Walmart is a godsend. Their scale reduces cost and gives easy access to a myriad of products that local mom-and-pop shops could never provide. It's good for people with limited income to get more for less of their money. I know it hurts some local businesses whose models can't keep up, but that's business. The people in my small town were better off because of Walmart. Amazon has taken over where Walmart started; Amazon Prime is a one of the most amazing and practical innovations.

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#48

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

oftenwrong wrote: post #28

Many of those charming small town main streets like the ones in some of the photos, and the independently owned businesses along them, are in decline, if not already dead. Wal-mart and other big, chain businesses, often located down the highway, are getting all the business, so the small businesses in town cannot survive. Recently, I saw an incredible video about a main street in Mississippi that was basically dead,…

[deleted]

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#49

Post by throwanem » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

oftenwrong wrote: post #28

Many of those charming small town main streets like the ones in some of the photos, and the independently owned businesses along them, are in decline, if not already dead. Wal-mart and other big, chain businesses, often located down the highway, are getting all the business, so the small businesses in town cannot survive. Recently, I saw an incredible video about a main street in Mississippi that was basically dead,…

God bless Water Valley. My folks used to buy beer there, back when Lafayette County was still entirely dry. We'd stop in Taylor on the way there or home, at Taylor Grocery, and eat what still to this day is some of the best fried catfish I've ever had. Even then, Water Valley seemed like a tired place, like it'd had too much weight too long on its shoulders. Next time I'm home, I'll have to spend some time seeing for myself what it's become - in the meantime, I'll hope it's survived with more of its dignity and sense of self intact than Oxford.

Re: Night-time in America's small towns

#50

Post by Sorry_Rum_Ham » Wed, Mar 08, 2017, 5:49 PM UTC

drivingmenuts wrote: post #41

One thing that sticks out in my mind is how utterly empty small towns feel late at night. I grew up in a rural area but have lived in larger urban areas since going to college. Small towns seem like another world after midnight. The lighting is all wrong, there's no sound in your immediate area, there's no life. Unless it has a 24-hour convenience store, it might seem like the place is completely abandoned. During th…

Once, while on a road trip, the wife and I ended up walking around Roswell, New Mexico at 2:00AM on a Tuesday. The town was completely lifeless as you described. We didn't see a single person for hours. The dark, empty town coupled with the alien/UFO decor literally everywhere you looked is still one of the more surreal things I've experienced. I have sort of a warm nostalgia for it, though.