1. You spent endless evenings hanging around in exactly the same place
Going down the canal later? Dunno, maybe.
2. You felt the pain of having to get lifts everywhere until age 17
3. Your town had a weirdly specific festival
Michael Freeman/DailyEdge.ie
4. And a single hairdresser with a pun for a name
5. You remember looking out for people at Mass, and then talking about who you saw in the car on the way home
6. You knew where to meet people for the shift
As long as someone else wasn’t using it already.
7. You knew every single toy/magazine/cassette available in each of the local shops
And precisely what your allowance/car-wash earnings would buy you in each of them.
8. Your family had a nickname
To distinguish them from the other family with the same surname.
9. Everyone knew precisely which pub would serve you underage
(Or whose brother can get you a fake ID.)
10. Everyone in the town knew exactly what you were up to at all times
And probably still does.
11. You were identified by your relations
You were (and will always be) Mary’s young one, or the little fella of Pat’s middle one.
If people aren’t sure, they may ask…
12. You’ve passed somebody in a totally different place who you haven’t seen for years, and known immediately they’re from your town
13. And finally, your mother still insists on telling you the local scandal at length, even though you moved away years ago
