You Know You Are In Butte When:

After living in Butte the last couple of years, I have realized that there are things that are just quintessential Butte...I have tried putting together a tongue in cheek peek-a-boo at Butte'isms'....

You know you are in Butte when:

• You are running errands, etc and you see people out & about in their PJ's
• You see people in short sleeves in sub-zero temps
• You are in the outskirts of town on trails and see a bear
• You are walking your dog in the outskirts of town and see a hunter armed & dangerous and realize that your dogs have the same coloring as some critters they are hunting & remind yourself to buy some bright orange vests for them
• You realize it is hunting season because everyone is wearing camo and orange
• You notice that the local sports store has 5X the space for hunting items as they do for everything else combined
• You consider buying a piece to protect your home
• "You are into the outdoors?  What to you hunt?  Why on earth would you ride a bike when you can ride a 4-wheeler or snow mobile?"
• You see an anti-meth billboard at every street corner
• You see medicinal marijuana shops on every other street corner (usually right next to anti-meth campaign billboard)
• You see mining headframes silhouetted against the skyline
• You see Our Lady lit up at night
• You see most of the population lit up at night
• You see more drunk drivers than sober drivers
• You don't see said drunk drivers early morning the next day
• You go to a bar and order a Moscow Muley....MMMM
• You realize someone drove a car through your garage!
• You see signs for pasty's everywhere...
• You realize it is pronounced 'pass-ty'  not 'pastie' (everyone will get a good laugh at your expense)
• You eat Chinese Food in a former brothel
• The booth you are eating in at said former brothel used to server a different kind of appetizer!
• You feel the earth rattle from blasts of mining up at the Pit
• You constantly live in fear of the Pit overflowing or breaking loose!
• You hear the siren going off at 9 p.m. every night.
• You catch yourself thinking "really? what is the difference between -20 and -30 temps?"
• You catch the awesomeness that is Evil Knievel Days
• You imbibe in St Paddy's shenanigans
• You see a fight break out on any given night in any given place
• You have heard the phrase 'Butte Tough' for the buzzillionth time
• You hear people say 'Crick' and realize they mean 'Creek'
• You see a dude relieving himself against a wall inside of a Subway sandwich store
• You find yourself at Wal-Mart after you held it in such disdain (your pride is swallowed and you eat crow as you find you come to depend on it for some things)
• You see a 4-wheeler or snowmobile parked outside a bar
• You realize you might have seen that same 4 wheeler on trails last week with the driver smoking a ciggy and a dog on the back-seat
• Shortly thereafter you see the same 4 wheeler upside down on a steep part of the trail
• You see someone 'walking' their dog via taking them to an open area, booting them out of the car and driving for a bit (while sucking on a ciggy) as the dog tries to keep up.
• You read newspaper headlines: 'Building XX Burned Down: Arson Suspected'
• You are on the phone with a Customer Service Rep and they read back your address as "Butt" - always solicits a juvenile laugh from me...although I always wait to see if the CSR can hold back from breaking out in hysterics too
• You realize just how hard the miners had it back in the day!
• You are at the Pit gift shop, pick up a copper item (which Butte is notorious for mining) and read 'Made in China' on the bottom
• You are afraid to order water (from the tap) at a restaurant because of the funny taste and smell
• You hear from friends of the new well they drilled because their old one is spewing purple water now
• You buy all your drinking water in 6 gallon jugs
• You almost get run over by a BIG truck (guilty as charged of owning BIG truck)
• You have eaten at the same 4 restaurants over and over and over again
• You have stray dogs leaving you gifts in your yard
• You read about the 500th reclamation project in your back-yard
• Every other house on your street has gotten a new roof due to 'hail damage' - covered by insurance of course...
• One of your neighbors has cars scattered around their house in various states of dis-repair
• You see the 20th 15yr old pregnant girl of the day
• You see motor homes and campers parked outside of people's homes that are worth more than the homes they live in
• That same camper passes you going uphill or downhill on the freeway (you notice you are going 75 mph so they must be HAULING)
• You realize who your true friends are because they come and visit you (despite the plethora of great terrain and activities, Butte is not exactly a destination location - Berkeley Pit notwithstanding)
• You have to drive an hour to get to the closest Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, etc...
• You see the umpteenth picket line
• You realize you have seen snow every month of the year
• You come to the realization that you have somehow intertwined yourself into the fabric of this quirky place!!!