“There’s nothing to do here, it’s so boring,” is something you’ll commonly hear people say about the place they live. The size of the town you grow up in can shape the way you think. The culture between the two are entirely different, yet residents of both share one thing in common; they complain about the place they live.

In rural towns, most often, you’ll hear the locals grumble about how far it is to the nearest Wal-Mart; while in the big city you’ll hear locals carping about traffic.

What’s interesting about their complaints is that despite all the different niche issues they each have with the place they live, they have similar gripes as well.

In the previous town I lived in, with a population of just over 1,000, and my current city having 86,000+ people, everyone complains about there not being enough to do.

When big city people visit a small town, they marvel at all the mom and pop shops and small businesses, and when people from smaller towns visit a big city, they’re able to revel in corporate entertainment like skating rinks and trampoline parks.

Despite there being things to do in both locations, locals still perceive it as boring or insufficient due to the novelty having worn off a long time ago. When you’ve seen everything there is to see, nothing seems entertaining anymore.

Culture is another aspect that is intriguing to explore. In a small town, everyone knows eeach other. There aren’t generally newcomers, and the people who live there have typically lived there most of their lives. Going into a small town as a newcomer is difficult to find your place in the pre-established cliques.

On the other hand, in big cities, it is impossible to know everyone, so you can still feel isolated if you aren’t able to find somewhere to fit. Once again, despite the vastly large population differences, people can still find a way to feel isolated and alone in both.

Transportation is also a point of contention between large and small cities. In the city there are many different modes of transportation. Walking and biking are viable options because more often than not, destinations aren’t more than 20 minutes away.

Public transportation is also possible as they have the funding for it, and it’s necessary for most who don’t have a car and need a way to get to work. Public transportation also provides a way for young people to get around without their parents having to drive them.

In small towns, these aren’t options. Countryside transportation isn’t high, and for some kids it can take more than 40 minutes to get to school.

While locals of more densely populated areas may gripe about traffic, locals of small towns complain about the ridiculous travel times they’re faced with just to get to school or the grocery store.

Two very different places are brought together by the art of complaining. Whether it be entertainment, culture, or even transportation, people in both big and small areas will find something to complain about.

While the people from the two locations may have been brought up differently and face different challenges, they’re brought together by grievances with the places they live and, for the most part, people are all the same no matter where they live or what they do.