Montanans, We Know You Play This Kevin-Bacon-Like Game
It's Friday night and you walk into a bar in a Montana town or city. How many people do you know?
My coworkers and I have been talking about this: Montana is just one really big small town, and even the cities like Missoula feel really small. One of my coworkers said that she used to play this game called "Over or Under."
How to Play "Over or Under"
No, it's not a dirty game, but it is easy to play in Montana. You and your friends pick a number and then before entering a public place--like maybe a bar, or a concert, a festival, maybe even a fundraiser--try to predict how many people you'll know when you walk in. So, if you're "Over 10" that means you know more than 10 people wherever you are.
Bumping Into People You Know
I don't know if I could have a number as high as 10 for a game of "Over or Under" but if the game was something like, "Will I know someone when I go to _____?" no matter where the place was, I'd have a good chance of saying yes. And I'm an introvert.
I think the smaller cities in Montana, and Missoula in particular, are more prone to this phenomenon. When I lived in Billings I figured I'd bump into the people I knew all the time, but it happened way less often than I expected. To the point that when I did bump into someone, it started to feel novel. But now that I'm back in Missoula, I'm seeing people I know everywhere, and I've only been back for a little over a year. And I'm not talking about people from when I grew up here--I'm even running into people I've met since I moved back.
What's your "Over or Under" number when you go out?