Small-town news networks

I’ve visited my internship area a few times now, and it’s reminding me of the joys of small-town living. Everywhere I go, I run into people who are somehow connected with one of the churches I’ll serve.

When I asked my supervisor for my future address so I could do address changes, she told me I should call for a PO box since that’s how residents of Dennison get their mail. I figured they’d ask me what my street address would be (and I didn’t know) but I called anyway, thinking maybe they could help me out with that too.

Sure enough, the friendly man at the post office got me all straightened out.

When I said I’d be working with some churches in the area, he knew about the internship program. When I said I’d be living in someone’s basement apartment, he figured out who I was talking about just from the guy’s first name. And he gave me the street address of my future residence. Then he said he’d just save me PO box number [X] until I could get there to fill out the paperwork.

So, thanks to him, I can do my address changes. There are definite benefits to the word-of-mouth networks of small towns.