The Ballad of Flathead County

He told me that he moved out to Montana from Chicago about 5 years ago. He left behind two kids and an ex-wife because he grew tired of the big city. He commented on how the amount of people moving to the area are driving up housing prices so he lives in an RV with his dog thirty miles outside of the town. The arctic cold spell caused the heat source in the RV to stop working, so he and the dog have been sleeping in the shuttle vehicle with the engine running during the nights. Last night was -16°F. One night he splurged and got a hotel room in town, but has to be mindful because he only brings home a little over $500 every two weeks shuttling tourists, like myself, to and from the airport. He does some Door Dash on the side for beer money. For him, it seems that the tourist trap has just become the local trap.