This is Rugby - be nice

I have lived in Rugby for 11 years.  This is the longest I have ever lived anywhere.  But it only took a couple of years for me to realise that everyone in Rugby is connected, or related, or both.  Despite its burgeoning high-density housing estates it's a town which still feels small. 

So, is this why people in Rugby are the nicest?

For example, many years ago I was just getting warmed up in a rant about someone who had given my poor service in a shop.  My friend held up her hand:
"I think that, before you go any further, I should tell you that the person you're talking about is my sister-in-law," she warned.  "I may agree with you.  I may understand what you're going to say.  But you should know that she's been having a bad time recently, and she's really low."
Of course I backtracked.  From then on I was a teeny bit more careful about what came out of my mouth.
As I always said to my girls.  "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  It's easy to say, but not so easy to do and I still get caught out.  News travels fast around here, and if you hear only one side of the story you can jump to certain conclusions.  OFSTED have been targetting the area at both primary and secondary level and heads are rolling all over the place.  (Do you see what I did there?  Heads rolling....like a pun....) .  But just wait, and pretty soon someone in Rugby will give you the other side of the story. Because they will have heard the other side from their brother's wife's sister's cousin's neighbour's workmate.

I met  my lovely friend, Helen, for a coffee at Mosaic in Bilton this morning, then I went to the butchers, the post office and the Co-op.  I had proper conversations with everyone, in every shop, with eye contact and smiles!  On my dog walks strangers greet me and stop to chat.  Maybe you have to have lived in the South East of England to really appreciate this.  People born and bred here take it for granted.  They shouldn't. 

My students often comment on the friendliness of Rugby folk, particularly those who've lived elsewhere in the UK. 

Another good thing about Rugby is that everywhere is mixed.  There are posh bits, but they're right next to more mixed areas.  No gated communities here.  No exclusive neighbourhoods.  We're all in it together, for better or for worse. 

Rugby ....you don't have a department store but you have everything I need.  You're a bit grotty in parts, but you don't have any pretensions.  You've got beautiful parks, a canal, a river.  A great place to live.