Alright Already

Dating in Big Sky is tough. You have to be really careful about who you spend your time with because if you don't watch yourself, someone else will. And they will report it. To everyone.
New Years Eve I was standing outside at the bonfire later in the evening when most people had gone, talking to "Joe" who was spending the evening elsewhere. A man I'd seen maybe twice at the cafe looked over at me and said, "Are you talking to "Joe"?" After my initial reaction of stunned, I asked into the phone and at the man, why does a complete stranger know I'm talking to you? The stranger's response was, "This is Moonlight. Everyone knows everything. Get used to it". And so I have.

After my official retraction (see below), I began to reconsider my stance on the lifty thing. I've talked with some lifties, aside from "Joe", who take their job fairly seriously. They are, after all, managing heavy equipment and their actions could save, or end, a life. This isn't something I would really want to think about after the intial information I received concerning the lifty, in general. Do I want a smelly man (or woman - there are lifty women) to have my life in their hands? Someone who does not know the value of a hot shower and Dial?

But I have a new respect for the lifty. I will give in and release the anonymity that was "Joe" and publicly disclose that his real name is Matt. We've been spending some time together over the past few weeks and he's made me understand the life of the lifty. Just because someone would choose to stand outside in the cold all day long holding a chair so someone can slide up and sit down doesn't make them a social misfit. In fact, Matt tells me he considers this job a 'service' to which my smart ass reply was, 'then why do you let them pay you?' This is just me being my usual PIA, but it's a nice gesture on his part. I was out riding the other day and getting off the lift, spun and fell to the ground. I blame Matt for my meeting with the earth, since I could see he was working the lift and I just KNEW I'd fall on my ass in front of him. Bravo. Thankfully he is a good sport and only laughed at me for a moment. When I saw him later at the bottom of the lift (the place I prefer him to be to avoid the above) he graciously told me it was all good since it gave him a smile. In any case, I watched him greeting the skiers as they came to get on the chair, smiling and joking with them, and it made me realize that secondary to being a safety position, it truly is a customer service job, if you accept it as such. And he has. And I like him for that. And because he says golly. Ok, I hate that. But we're working on it.

Another reason a lifty might want to be a lifty is because they get to ski or ride most days they work, either as a break or in order to get back to their cars at the end of the day. It's not a bad deal, really. It allows you to build your snow sport skills a little each day, until you look like this:

The snowboarder in the video is Matt. Pretty hot, right? What can I say, there is still the 13 year old girl in me who ogles boys doing dangerous things.

In any case, I'm taking this opportunity to officially introduce Matt, as Matt and he will be Matt from here on out, so long as we choose to associate ourselves with one another. After which time he will probably be "asshole", "shit head" or Liz's favorite for my most recent lapse into terrible judgement, "dickwad".
Say hi.