Butte Beat: Where Expectations End, An Oasis Begins

BUTTE, MT - Expectations.

Get our free mobile app

They lead our lives in more ways than you may...expect. For example, any of you who have read my ramblings under the guise of these "articles" titled "Butte Beat:" knows that I treat these articles as college writing exercises in creative writing. So, you know exactly what to expect when you open one of these up, and I know exactly what to expect in return: feigned interest and vague understanding from the expected 10 readers.

When you really think about it, our life is led by expectation. Why do you go to work every day? Because you expect to get paid and you expect to live long enough to reap the benefits. Why do you go to McDonald's when you forget to bring your lunch? You expect a relatively consistent quality of meal, and you expect it to be inexpensive. Why do you have children? You expect them to be angels and, because you're different, you expect to raise them as respectable, delightful human beings.

But what happens when expectations aren't met? If you ask those Tumblr girls from 2012, you'll find that "expectations = disappointment." It makes sense: would you go to work if they said they weren't paying you anymore? Would you go to McDonald's if they raised the prices by $5 an item? Would you have children if you could see into the future and find out that, shockingly, they've turned out to be raging douchebags?

Probably. But that's the point: sometimes, expectations need to be curved. We need to be humbled. A reminder that life isn't always running along the tracks we expect them to be on. It keeps things interesting and exciting, especially when you find yourself in a situation without any expectations.

That's how I found myself the first time I walked through the doors of Oasis Casino and Restaurant off of Amherst Ave in Butte. Zero expectations. I just knew I wanted three things: a drink, a meal, and a place to house the first two. And I got what I wanted. (An adept observer may have recognized that, technically, those three things were indeed expectations...)

Oasis, strangely, feels exactly like its name: a rare watering hole among a desert of repetitiveness. Though I didn't expect much from the joint, only because I knew next to nothing about it before walking in, my small and sincere expectations were not only met but exponentially exceeded. Plus, something I never expected made itself known: there were families all over the dining room; parents with kids, kids with grandparents, hardworkin' coworkers sitting together. It really made the place feel like an Oasis right here in Butte.

The food, the drinks, the atmosphere: all great and recommended. But what I really got from Oasis was a lesson in expectation:

Expectations are like opinions: everyone has them, but that doesn't mean we need to take them so seriously.