It seems that life in Albert Lea hasn’t changed much over the years, at least according to this article from 1983. Lots of people complain about our town having “nothing to do,” including me and my own friends, and apparently that’s what kids forty years ago were also saying. In the modern day, it is a lot easier to fill your time, since most people have smartphones, computers, and social media. This might lead to some people saying that this problem, the lack of things to go out and do, doesn’t exist anymore, but this brings up the question: are teenagers on their phones all the time because there is nothing to do? Both of Albert Lea’s malls are ghost towns, there is no bowling alley anymore, many shops downtown have shuttered, and the layout of the town is spread out so much that people often have to rely on driving to places instead of walking (which makes certain places inaccessible to many people). Therefore, one could argue that we have less things to do in Albert Lea today than when this article was written. This article concludes by encouraging students to stop complaining and use their creativity to fill their free time, but how much blame is to be placed on people’s lack of creativity, or should some blame be placed on the increasing lack of fun places to go in small towns?