The City I Love

Boise, Idaho

I think many people love where they live for one reason or another. I like the dry climate of the high-mountain desert in Boise. I love the low crime rate. You can't beat the
friendly old-fashioned hometown feel… but that doesn’t quite explain it just right. Here’s what I saw just the other day:

I was sitting in my car, waiting for the Chinese restaurant to bring out my food, when I saw the strangest thing: Three guys were pushing a car down the turning lane on the busy four-lane road. I stared at the odd site for a few minutes. 

It looked kind of weird, three guys jogging along and pushing a car. As I watched, the two guys at the rear of the car shouted something then stopped running and turned back the other way.

It wasn’t 50 feet before a different guy dashed out of the restaurant up the street and jogged up to the turning lane. As he and the driver were exchanging words an SUV pulled up behind the small car. After a brief exchange, the jogger turned and waived, heading  back to the restaurant. The man in the Chevy pulled up in front of the import. In no time they had a tow rope attached and were off driving off.

This is pretty typical behavior in Boise.

The funny thing is, my hometown is so misunderstood. When I tell folks where I’m from, they often ask about racism issues in Idaho, undoubtedly thinking of the Aryan Nation thing that occurred in northern Idaho long ago. I’ll have to tell this story the next time they ask about race issues here: The driver was African American – none of the others were.