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About This Quiz
There are many differences between growing up in the big city and being raised out in the boonies. Some of those differences are obvious, like how well people in your town knew your business or how dangerous it was for you to cross the street as a kid. Some of the differences are a little more subtle, like what your favorite restaurant was or how many trips you took to the mall in your youth. Either way, we think that we'll be able to narrow in on the answer by the end of this quiz.
Perhaps you're quite used to people acting fairly rude to each other, and you tend to be in a bit of a hurry with everything you do. If you've experienced intense boredom, despite being surrounded by every entertainment and dining choice imaginable, we're likely to guess that you were a city kid.
Maybe most of your friends lived on the same block as you, and you rode your bikes around the neighborhood to catch up on the subdivision scene. If you lived near a cul-de-sac and there were more big box stores than you could count within a few miles of your home, we're pretty sure that you grew up in the suburbs.
It's time to take a trip down memory lane. Are you riding a bike or hopping on the subway?
When people ask you where you grew up, what do you tell them?
The name of the city, duh.
I just tell them the nearest recognizable city name.
I tell them the name of the town and then how far it was from a major city.
I just usually say, "Oh, all over".
How stressful was it to cross the street as a kid?
There were some times when it was stressful and other times when it wasn't.
I definitely had to look both ways before crossing the street.
It was unusual to have a car pass by.
It was almost impossible to cross the street.
How much wildlife did you see as a kid?
I saw a ton of deer and other critters.
It wasn't unheard of for us to come across something.
The only wildlife I saw was at the zoo.
I probably saw more than most kids.
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Which best fits your idea of a fun party as a kid?
Going to a birthday party place like "Chuck E. Cheese's" or something like that.
A trip to the mall.
Having all the neighborhood kids over to the house for a party.
A bonfire.
Do you still stay in touch with the kids you grew up with?
There are a couple of friends that I still have from my youth.
Oh yeah, we're all still very close.
I try to keep up on Facebook, but that's about it.
No, I don't at all.
How much did neighbors know about you as you were growing up?
I was hardly there long enough for them to get to know me.
They didn't know anything about me.
Those who lived on our block knew a lot about us.
People in a 5-mile radius knew everything about me.
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How often did you find yourself bored as a kid?
All the time.
I entertained myself, so I was never really bored.
I suppose I was bored a fair amount of the time.
I was always adjusting to something new, so it was never a dull moment.
Which kind of restaurant most reminds you of being a kid?
I have a different restaurant for each place I lived.
There was a local chain that was popular where I grew up.
The local diner.
McDonald's.
At what age did you first drive a vehicle of some kind?
I was driving tractors and stuff before the age of 12.
I drove an off-road vehicle when I was 13 or 14.
It wasn't until I was 15 or 16.
I think I drove a golf cart or something like that when I was 13 or so.
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How diverse was the community you grew up in?
It was a melting pot of all different kinds of people.
There were a few people of color, but they were pretty rare.
I was exposed to all kinds of different cultures and places.
I didn't see a person who looked different than me until I was older.
How far were you from the nearest major airport?
It was about an hour away.
It took half the day to get there.
It varied.
It was real close.
Is Uber or Lyft available in the place you grew up in?
It was available in some places but not others.
Of course, why wouldn't it be?
I'm not sure if they've made it there yet.
Nope.
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Did you have to develop a thick skin where you grew up?
Yeah, everyone was kind of rude.
No, everyone was very friendly where I grew up.
A little bit, I guess.
There were some places that were harsher than others.
How frequently did you use public transportation as a kid?
I rode on plenty of subways, trains, and buses in my youth.
It was pretty rare.
Besides the school bus, almost never.
Pretty much every day.
How often did you eat foods from different cultures as a kid?
Almost never, it was pretty much hamburgers and hot dogs for me.
We'd do some exotic stuff once in a while.
I was exposed to food from around the world.
I probably had more exposure to different culture's food than most kids.
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Could you see the Milky Way in the sky as a kid?
I could barely see any stars.
I don't think we could see the Milky Way, but there were plenty of stars in the sky.
There were some times where I got a good look at it.
Yes, we had an amazing view of the cosmos.
In general, how long would it take you to drive 20 miles in the place you grew up?
I'd guess around 30 to 40 minutes.
20 minutes should be plenty if I was in a rush.
That would vary dramatically based on the location.
That might take a couple hours during rush hour.
What time did places close down where you're from?
Most stuff was shut down by midnight or 1 a.m.
A lot of places stayed open all night long.
It was pretty common for things to be closed by 9 or 10 p.m.
Everything was pretty much shut down by 5 p.m.
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How far away was the nearest cul-de-sac from your childhood home?
You'd have to go many miles before you'd find a cul-de-sac.
I think there might have been one in a neighborhood a few miles away.
I lived on a cul-de-sac.
There was a time where I lived within a block of a cul-de-sac.
How much time did you spend at the mall in your youth?
It was a bit of a treat to get to go to the mall.
I spent as much time as humanly possible at the mall.
It was pretty rare for me to go to a mall.
There were a bunch of malls that I split my time between.
How big was your yard growing up?
It was huge. We're talking about multiple acres.
It was pretty big. We had a garden and stuff.
We didn't have a yard.
It varied depending on where we were living.
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Have you ever camped in your backyard?
We never did that.
We did that a few times growing up.
I've done that once or twice before.
Oh yeah, we used to do that all the time.
How many big box stores were in the place where you grew up?
They were all over the place.
None.
I've definitely lived in places where there were a bunch of them.
We tended to have more specialty and niche stores.
How important were high school sports in your hometown?
I lived in places where I was more important than others.
Nobody cared all that much about them.
They were pretty important, but not as big as in more rural spots.
That was pretty much our whole world.
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Was either of your parents in the military?
Yes, at least one of them was.
They were, but that was before I was born.
I had family members who served.
No, I don't think anyone in my family served.
How efficient are you at packing a bag?
It takes me forever to figure out what to put in there.
I always seem to pack too much stuff.
I can definitely pack a bag pretty fast, but I'm not sure how efficient it would be.
I'm a master at maximizing space in a bag.
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How common was it for you to feel like the outsider at school?
There were so many kids in my school that it wasn't unheard of to not know anyone around me.
I might feel that way at the beginning of the year for a little while.
Yeah, I always felt like the new kid on the block.
Nope, I knew everyone around me.
How do you feel about traveling?
I enjoy taking a big trip once in a while.
I always think that I want to travel, but it ends up kind of stressing me out.
I don't mind it. In fact, I kind of enjoy it.
I love to travel.
How likely are you to go back and live in your original hometown?
Which one?
Yeah, there's a good chance that I'll move back there at some point.
I suppose it's possible, but I'd say it's unlikely.
There's no way. I'm going out to see the world.
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