Only In Missoula…
By Big Sis, 3-17-07
Walking to my noon yoga class yesterday, a stranger at the intersection of Broadway and Higgins caught my eye. A woman of my same age, height, and hair color was wearing my exact same, brand-new, flashier-than-the-average Patagonia fleece. And she had on my same exact Dansko clogs (i.e. “Rocky Mountain high heels”), too.
We smiled in the crosswalk. A coincidence, but not really worthy of mention.
Except that I saw the exact same woman standing at the exact same intersection on my walk back from yoga two hours later.
She laughed. “Did you get your fleece at the Gambler’s Sale?”
I laughed. “Uh, huh. Did you get your shoes at Hide and Sole?”
“Oh, yeah,” she replied. “Aren’t we just the typical Missoulians?”
Uh, huh.
Only in Missoula, baby. Only in Missoula.
What’s your latest “Only in Missoula Moment”?
(If you’ve never had one (is that possible?), I invite you to stand on the corner of Broadway and Higgins and let the moment find you.)
Big Sis and Little Sis write about life and love in the Garden City in their blog here on NewWest.Net. Read more on “Making it in Missoula,” including details on the March “You Made It!” contest at http://www.newwest.net/makingit.
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Two people who happen to shop at overpriced local stores, sniffing each other out and patting each other on the back -- this serves as a "that's so Missoula" experience worth sharing?
Actually, it is so "Missoula," as this town contains pockets of elitist, cliqueish pukes like you who do nothing but intermingle with like-minded liberal snobs, sniffing each other's asses.
Christ, why don't you go out and see the real Missoula? Yeah, real Missoulians, laboring, going bowling, drinking cheap beer, having fun. In other words, get your stuffy ass west of Higgins every now and then.
Fuck. FUCK!
Get a glove and a bag,
Poopy Shoe
There is absolutely no need for the kind of venom spewed by 'cal'. "cal's' type of post only makes the world a little dirtier and uglier and sadder.
bloo
We (the editors of NW) have taken down two comments here because they were in direct violation of our terms of service -- they employed direct, personal attacks. (Remember, commenting here implies that you adhere to those terms, which you can read here.)
Now, I do agree with dingo -- this has to be an open forum where everyone -- sophomoric or not -- is entitled to his or her opinion and we're extremely conservative in taking down comments. We also have pretty thick skin, but those kinds of direct personal attacks will not be tolerated here. While we fully encourage lively, even contentious conversations, we expect our readers and writers to maintain civility and basic human decency when posting here.
Courtney Lowery
Managing Editor
My Only in Missoula story...lighting up a huge joint with friends on the Old Post deck or in Charlie's...only in Missoula.
It is one of the many reasons I'm against the anonymity of the internet provides. Deceit is all to possible when one hides behind an alias. Its this lack of anonymity, and the honesty and friendliness it creates, that makes cities like Missoula a great place to live. And is something we as a community should try to hold onto as we grow larger.
we're all new west people. the economy is changing here. we can respect the past and move thoughtfully into the future, or get left in the dust like an old west relic.
its not right or left, its 21st century.
patagonia, cowboy boots, tool belts, laptops- there all welcome in the western montana my family helped bulid.
Here's another "Only in Missoula Moment," sans Patagonia but still only slightly west of Higgins:
My truck's was in the shop last week, and I was biking to work (Brie-Eating Schmo that I am...). I wear a helmet (like a dork, but a safe dork), and was waiting at a light. Lo and behold, my insurance salesman--fast-talking JC--drives up next to me and rolls down the window.
"Hey, BS! How's it goin'? Hey, last night I saw a documentary on 'risks,' and guess what? Drivers are 30% more likely to hit bicyclists wearing helmets versus those without helmets. They figure they won't be as messed up after they smack into 'em, I guess! Anyway, bike safe!"
And away my insurance man drove. I hugged the guardrail for dear life on my way into town.
Cheers,
BS
A hotdog walks into a bar.
The bartender says, "We don't serve food here."
You know, Cal is not entirely wrong. That was probably the dumbest, most superficial thing I've ever read, and I have to ask: Is that an act, Sister? That's got to be an act. It has to be! TELL US IT'S AN ACT AND YOU'RE NOT REALLY THAT SHALLOW AND DUMB.
And, what the hell is "sans?" Is that some kind of neo-hippy, trendy downtown term, because my shock therapist also keeps saying it. Maybe you should get a session. Or three.
I don't think having high-quality, comfortable, outdoorsy clothing is a crime. I don't someone is "elitist" if they happen to spend their money on materials that are useful, look good, and will last a long time. I think doing so is a good, Missoulian attribute to have.
I love the general feeling of freedom Missoula offers. However, freedom isn't necessarily the freedom to disrespect others. Speaking cleanly is a bit like wearing clothing. Foul language is like going out in public naked. It may be a pronouncement of your freedom, but it's still disrespectful to many who would prefer you to cover up your body (or clean up your mouth) a bit. I don't think of Missoula as a place full of flippant, disrespectful, and foul-mouthed people. We should be nonjudgmental and respectful toward others, which (gasp) may sometimes require slightly restraining the hippie within.
So, on the actual topic of this article: Here is one of my many "Missoula" moments: While talking to a friend in Missoula after we had both been away for our first year of college, I found out that we had both decorated our dorm room with a free Missoula bike map from Parks & Rec. It was a meaningful little taste of home for both of us.
Maybe that's because Engen is the mayor of this town, and Tester comes here every now and then. What's next out of your ignorant hole, "Only in Dover, Delaware, can you have a beer with John Engen and Jon Tester"?
For those of us who might consider ourselves "hippie" now and then, that's a pretty judgemental, disrespectful, backhanded comment to make. Kinda ruins your other points.
As for Cal, at least there aren't any blurry ideas on what he/she thinks of some of us. I'm kinda getting the giggles here.
When it comes to Missoula, I love it. Doesn't matter if I'm prancing around secretly wearing Mary Green panties (from Bella Donna, of course) under my Carharts, or scarfing down 3 or 4 burger-and-a-beer-for-a-buck delicacies at Buck's Club. Cal, we may run into each other at Target, but you won't catch me dead at Wal-Mart. You can have that one to yourself. Just don't get run over by an RV.
(just as a note, I've lived in Missoula a good 90% of my life as well).
I've removed two more comments from Cal because they violated our terms of service again. (I had left the one up about me because I can take it, but took it down to be consistent. I won't allow Cal to attack other readers here. We don't tolerate intimidation.)
Now Cal, you do raise some interesting points. If you're willing to share your thoughts without directly attacking other people, go ahead. I'm actually intrigued to hear more from you. But, keep in mind, if you violate our terms again, your comments will be removed.
Courtney
Most of you "Missoulians" come and go every few years to then be replaced by the next batch of "locals." And apparently the only requirement to being a Missoula local is having a flyrod and a dog that won't listen, but at least has some kind on 'cool' mountain range name and a hemp collar.
Check this out, posers: real locals don't hang out downtown, with the clowns, know that Snowbowl is the most over-rated hill in the State, never buy Patagonia anywhere other than Dillon, and are more likely to see a friend at the Northern Lights or Antlers than downtown, with the clowns, and the burrito bus, or is that still around? The beer at the KKK-house sucks beyond anything that ever sucked. You know they STILL brew with extracts - losers can't even go grain.
And, other than German, French is the most obnoxious sounding language ever spoken. Fuck the Canadians.
Let it fly, Cal. Don't let the elitist establishment censor you.
Are you Canadian? Is that your hemp-collared black lab running down Higgins? Is that your green Subaru with the Thule rack on it all summer long parked out in front of the Iron Horse? Are you part of the elitist clown society that cannot handle a little direct, contentious, and highly provocative dialog?
Sounds like it to me.
Yo soy el pendejo, nadie mi bato.
If it's still on, I hereby submit the winning entry:
A few years ago I frequently ate lunch at a downtown restaurant, and I would occasionally see this incredibly beautiful woman there, eating alone, like me. One time we arrived at the restaurant at the same time, acknowledged our previous mutual sightings there, and decided to have lunch together. There are other towns that could happen in, but not many. That's the warm-up...
Over lunch I learaned that I was already acquainted with her sister. And I had just the week before learned that her sister's husband (with whom I was also acquainted) wanted to leave their marriage, and asked to rent a room in my house for a few months (to which I had already said yes). But that's not all.
When I picked up this beautiful woman for our first real date a week later, she was living in the very apartment that my ex-wife moved into when she and I divorced the year before, and still in that apartment was a small bookshelf I had made years earlier while living elsewhere in town.
And to top it all off, I am now married to my happenstance lunch date.
And we now have a black lab.
I keed. Good story indeed.
I have my frustrations with Missoula and its inhabitants, but I am impressed over and over with the connectedness of the place. For a city of 65,000, I sure do run into people I know and people who know people I know pretty often (the three jobs thing helps with this, I'm sure). And- they are overwhelmingly good people. Many are living their values and many recognize this amazing setting and the unique opportunity you have here to combine small-scale urban life with adjacent outdoor amenities, without having to drive through an hour of sprawl to get to them. There aren't a lot of places in this country where you can do that.
I have to agree with the dog crap thiong though. Only inMissoula can you watch two dreadlocked women in patchwork skirts pretend they don't notice that precious Rover is working out a grumpy not three feet away.
So, Big Sis, keep tossing the ball out there! It's just really fun to read about the people and places I've seen and smelled - "liberal snobs, sniffing each other's asses", "two dreadlocked women in patchwork skirts", and "the hemp-collared black lab running down Higgins." Unlike Twofishtaco, I say those who would deliver unto us the nice line must have it over the poor dears who seem to think they could express themselves with out fear of someone else trying to pass judgment.