The Thing About Assumptions

So earlier this month I posted about my experiences at a friend's wedding.

Here's the original post.

Regarding my assumption that the stuff in the doorway on the sidewalk was a homeless person. I was informed by my friend that lives in the town that the items belong to some children that play there and a family lives above that spot.

So my assumptions were wrong.

In my own experiences, when I see things like that, it has always equaled to homelessness, but in this case I was wrong. This does make more sense, as homelessness in small towns is really an oddity. Usually if a person falls upon hardship in a small town, they don't go unnoticed and people are typically willing to help them out.

For this reason, I assumed drugs because sometimes people whom have dealt with drug issues with a family member or friend for years, sometimes give up and do "tough love." I assumed meth, because meth is the latest and greatest out there, widely available, highly addictive AND it has been known for years that it is typically made in rural areas (perhaps that is not a fact either I assumed my sources for that info were credible).

This is the thing about assumptions - they aren't always correct.

My friend also pointed out that she does not believe meth is more prevalent in small towns. She says it appears that way because it is much more noticeable. Once again, that is a very good point to make. I believe all small towns are just as different as the people that live in them. So I do believe that there are some towns with real problems with this stuff (as mentioned in the comments) but not in all small towns.

This particular town has always been one that I have enjoyed visiting, not only because I have friends that live there, but also because I love going to their local cafe and bar. I can always get good food, a drink made just the way I like and I could put the jukebox on random.