Caught in a Time Warp!

I think my state, the Gem State, often called the Potato State, should be renamed the "Time Warp State." This is because living in Idaho is like living in California 50 years ago. The Idahoans I have met agree with me on this. They admit life "moves slow here," and some are even apologetic. But in the long run, it's the very reason people move here, and the reason natives never leave.

Here, kids leave their bikes and skateboards strewn all over the front lawn and the next morning, they're still there!

Here, people own guns that they actually use for hunting; and no one complains or protests when gun & knife shows come to town, except for me (silently).

Here, teenagers wear regular clothes that fit. No saggin' baggin' jeans on the boys, and no bare bellies and spaghetti straps for the girls.

If dogs get out of a fella's yard and attack a city councilman, inflicting wounds that require stitches, the owner is told to keep his pets in the yard. After all, dogs can sometimes be dangerous. (This really happened.) (By the way, what's a "leash law?")

Here, you can find plenty of candy or soda for sale in the middle and high schools. Hey, what's lunch money for, anyway?

Here, most male Idahoans 60 and under drive pickup trucks with no mufflers. Many of the younger ones also own sedans with all windows tinted completely black.

Here, kids typically ride in the beds of pickup trucks, and dogs enjoy the same privilege, untethered of course. (After all, the kids aren't tied down!)

Here, no one's ever heard of the term recycling. For the record, the Cub Scouts have a paper drive bin at the neighborhood strip mall (remember paper drives?) , but bottles and cans are no deposit/no return.

Here, you can leave your car unlocked and your front door wide open and no one will help themselves to your stuff; although they may walk into your house to see if everything is okay.

Here, if you hit a cow that's standing in the middle of the road, you are at fault, even if the cow broke through the fence. But if someone shoots down a couple head just for the fun of it, the owner probably won't press charges. He'll just want the shooter to pay for the cows.

Here (get this) there are no helmet laws for motorcyclists, bicyclists, scooterists, skateboarders, rollerbladers, rollerskaters, or anyone else!

Seat belt laws exist here, but only a few of the elderly wear seat belts, and no one is ever cited, unless they can be pulled over something more serious, like throwing empty beer cans out the window in front of a police car.

Here, car restraints for children are rarely used. Children prefer to climb over the seats and hang out the open windows while the unbelted parent struggles with the family dog (on her lap) as she attempts to drive the car.

Here, by my observation, approximately one half of the population smokes. (The other half are Mormons.) I took particular note of this because in California, smoking has been nearly eradicated. Any poor souls still clinging to the filthy habit are delegated to the dumpster areas in alleys behind office buildings. But here, public smoking is common!

Here, although 90% of the residents are white, race isn't considered an issue. In fact, folks make a special effort to not say the wrong thing to "people of color."

Here, wages are low, but homes are cheap, neighbors are friendly, and groceries are a bargain.

Here, after voting for one's favorite Republican, one notices that there are no propositions listed at the end of the ballot. Being possibly the most conservative state in the Union (even compared to Utah!) it's a fact that new laws, regulations, ordinances, statutes, or whatever, rarely make it to the ballot. As a result, the world changes, but Idaho... uh, doesn't.