So I live in a fairly small, rural area. Technically, the town I live in (which is actually a village, but it says on the sign that’s it’s a “town,” and this has become a source of heavy debate amongst locals) is under 2000 people, but the adjacent town, where most people in my area live, is over 4000. However, that town is wide, and the more well known village area is much, much smaller than the entire town, at least in size.
Anyway, this is why it’s been such a big deal in my area that we recently built not one, not two, but three new fast food joints. We now have a KFC, a Taco Bell, and a Wendy’s, where previously we only had a McDonald’s in the actual village, and a Burger King in the next town over (which is only like, a five minute drive away). So, these new joints are huge for us, and obviously, inviting new jobs for the teenagers in the area.
My best friend recently got hired at the Wendy’s, and he told me a bit about his interview process (which was about five minutes long, and was nothing like what an actual interview should be. Some guy sat him at a folding table in the town hall, looked at his resume, and said, okay, training starts in February!). He also told me that some people from like, upper management or something were there to oversee the process. And from the town hall, you can see the train driving by, because the town has a train that goes through very often. In fact, there’s several trains all around my area, but this towns train is the most popular one, because the train station is right in town and you can just drive by the idle train, sitting on the tracks, when it’s not in use, and it’s pretty much the only passenger train we have, to my knowledge. The rest are all for transporting goods, not people. And according to my friend, these corporate folks were absolutely SHOCKED by the sight of the train. Like, the lady who gave him the availability sheet to fill out was in total disbelief. They were standing at the window just watching it go by in astonishment. Just three Wendy's corporate executives crowded around the tiny window, STARSTRUCK at the sights they're seeing.
As someone who has grown up here and has known nothing but this small, tri-county area, has spent years travelling between these three towns to the point where they’re all one in my mind, it’s so mind boggling to me that the simple sight of a STEAM ENGINE TRAIN, of all things, can be so magical to city-folk. It’s the little things in life, I suppose, that bring us joy. I’m glad my shitty, rural town with its old as all hell steam engine was able to bring some sparkle to their eyes, even if it’s nothing but a hunk of metal to me that just impedes traffic occasionally.
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