] Another thing I noticed is that privacy is a luxury. If people don't already know your business, they are quite busy trying to find it out!

Privacy is really more of a modern concept - more of the 20th and 21st centuries than the 18th and 19th. I work as a supervisor in a government agency, and it amazes me as to the extent that the privacy concept has been carried - for example, in a job interview you cannot even ask someone if they have reliable transportation so you can be assured they will be able to get to work on time! But getting back to JA: I think that living in a small social circle would almost preclude privacy, and prying would become a form of entertainment.