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June 28, 2003

Mammoth and me.

Sarah and I decided to move to Mammoth for many reasons. We loved the idea of living in the mountains so close to so many different outdoor activities, rock & ice climbing, backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, to name a few. We also like the idea of seeing what it was like to live in a small town. This next week is our one year anniversary in Mammoth and I've learned a lot about what this place IS and ISN'T. First of all, Mammoth is in no way indicative of small town U.S.A. It is as far from that model as can be. Bishop is 40 miles south of Mammoth. The differences between Mammoth and Bishop are astounding. If you were to drive through both towns, you'd swear Bishop is twice the size of Mammoth. Why? Because there's so much more diversity in the stores and restaurants there. In fact, Bishop has a little more than half the population of Mammoth. Mammoth has more steak houses per capita than anywhere else I've been. It has a single Vons, Rite-Aid and 2 small home repair stores. Bishop has a K-Mart, and many different small stores and restaurants. The difference is that Mammoth is a resort town. It has many more seasonal residents and a LOT more money. If a person was looking for a 'small town' to move to, Mammoth would NOT be one of my suggestions. There's a lot of turnover. Don't get me wrong, its a small town. Everywhere I go I see people I know. Everyone knows what's going on with the permanent residents.

What's also strange about this town is the economic diversity. Diversity isn't the right word though, dichotomy or paradox maybe. There's enough rich people here to jack the cost of living through the roof. However, most of the jobs are lower paying jobs like waiter or sporting goods store clerk. Low pay + high cost of living = poor people. So at least half, if not more, of the population lives in poverty, while the other half lives in opulence, with few people in between. But its population of poor residents also shows Mammoth's differences from most places. They do not live like most poor people. Few of them make more than 12K a year, but they didn't come here to make money. They came here for the geography, whether it be snowboarding, climbing, mountain-biking, or just the scenery. So almost everyone lives with roommates, few of them have vehicles, they eat and live cheap doing odd construction jobs for extra $$. What makes them even more unique is that they're happy.

I was struck recently by my friends' lack of problems. When I lived in the city, it seemed like everyone (including me) had problems. Little ones, big ones, but always problems. Problems are probably the biggest source of conversation fodder in the city. Not that people here don't have problems, maybe they just don't let their problems get to them. They're more laid back. They have to be. You can't live with so little money, in the shadow of so much money without being able to laugh at life's cruel jokes. Take me, I've worked hard in my life. Is there any reason I'm not a millionaire like others I see my same age? Did they work harder than me? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't matter. Becoming rich is like winning in Vegas. It just happens, no rhyme or reason. Oh I'm sure most wealthy people will give you concrete reasons why THEY made it and how others could make it if they did the same things, but it just doesn't work that way. My roommate Eric still doesn't have a job for the summer. Yet, he's not freaked about it. He gets work here and there and it all sorta works out. He's still able to laugh at the whole thing. As I look back I'm surprised I never realized how much I was affected by everyone always having problems. Now I see how much I'm affected by everyone around me being happier and laughing at their problems. This brings up the whole subject of things just working out for some reason, only if you let them and don't worry, but thats for another blog. So many people here break from social norms. My friend Dennis got fixed at 24 because he knew he didn't want kids. Anywhere else that would be really weird, but not here. I have friends that have built their life around not working more than 2 days a week. I know a happily married couple that separated for 5 months by choice because she wanted to visit family for a while in Michigan while he wanted to stay here to enjoy the summer. Their separation is in no way a reflection on the state of their marriage. Their happily married, they just wanted to see what it was like. There are many more stories like these that show how unsubstantiated most social norms really are. There are no social norms in Mammoth.

People often ask me, as I ask myself, whether I plan on staying here in Mammoth. If you asked Sarah, she'd tell you she's willing to call of the search and make this home for good. I am not so ready to make that claim. This is the first 'small town' I've lived in (or been to) and I'm hesitant to say this is the best place for us to live without seeing other places... like Bend, OR or places in CO or WA. I'm very curious what its like to live in a REAL small town. I don't me smaller than Mammoth in population, I'm mean less of a rich resort town. I've talked to a lot of people and I don't know if there's another place quite like Mammoth in its accessibility to so many activities so close. You really do not need a car. You could climb, backpack, snowboard, mountain-bike, all without a car. My bike had a flat, so I walked to work this morning. Didn't even take 10 minutes. We'll see how long we end up staying here. All I know is that I'm going to get as much out of this place as I can, while I can.

Posted by wonko at June 28, 2003 12:48 PM

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