Hunting ... sort of

It's funny, but one of the first questions people ask when I tell them I'm moving, is 'So, how's the dating scene in Tiny-Town?' Well, the way I look at it, it's like going shopping at a TJ Maxx or a Marshall's: you have to sort through a lot of things that just aren't you, but you can find some real gems there too.

I'm not gonna lie. There are NASCAR fans in the country. There are boys who would rather hang out with their hunting dog than people. There are dudes who wear pliers on their belts - always. Sometimes even to church. There are some dudes whose mission it is to get rip roaring hammered starting at exactly 5:00 PM every day. There are dudes whose daily vocabulary includes words like 'warsh' and 'sumbitch' and 'wild turkey'.

But. There are also guys who like to go have a beer and play poker. There are guys who play on summer softball leagues. Dudes who work hard and play hard and enjoy the hell outta life. They love to get their hands dirty and work on old muscle cars. Some guys put their heart and soul into building and improving their farms. And they're good guys to the core.

It's kind of funny, because those chicks in the cities whose first question after "You want to buy me a drink?" is "So, what do you drive?" would have it easy in the country. It's such a small community, everybody knows exactly what everybody else has. People like to talk about other people, and the conversation easily goes to, 'Did you see So-and-So's new truck?' or 'Joe Schmoe must've sold some cows, 'cause he's building a big new machine shed out behind his house.'

The other huge difference between dating in a small town and in KC, is that your parents probably know who you're going out with. And they know his parents, and his grandparents, and probably where he lives, too. Makes it tough to date a jackass, which is what I'm good at. So maybe this small town dating thing is a good thing ...