Padiddles are Out of Control in Boise, and We Love It!

Have you ever played padiddle? If you just said, "Puh-wuh?!" probably not 🙃

It's a nighttime car game where you shout out "padiddle" every time you see a car with one headlight out. It's silly and borderline stupid, but it's fun.

Are padiddles are on the rise in Boise?

If you live in Boise's Treasure Valley, you might be noticing a dramatic increase in the number of chances to play along. It's almost making the game a little too easy.

As I drive back and forth between Star and Boise dozens of times each week, it seems like I'm spotting more and more cars and trucks with a busted headlight. It's actually becoming a fun, semi-strange obsession for me. 

At first, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, or that that thing where a person sees more of what they want to see, but it wasn't.

I started keeping track, and in one day, I spotted 12 padiddles. Wut. The padiddled-out rides I counted were a mixed bag of old and new cars and trucks with no discernable pattern among the drivers.

What's behind Boise's padiddle phenomenon?

Well, there are a few possible explanations. Since it's happening with old and new cars, maybe it's the cold. Perhaps Idaho's erratic and frigid temps are making headlight bulbs burn out faster. 

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Here's another theory that's a bit more reasonable. Boise's grown dramatically over last the 10 years. As more and more people move here, it feels like the Treasure Valley's expanding faster than I did during my third trimester 😳

But unlike my pregnancy, Boise's population boom might never cap off. Someday soon, we might have more padiddles than we know what to do with. #paddidleflex

Boise's Secret Padiddle Society: a thing?

With the Boise-area becoming transplant central, maybe there's just more traffic on the roads, which means more opportunities for padiddles to appear. After all, it's not like there's a secret padiddle society driving around with one headlight out just to mess with people, right?

Because if there is, how do I sign up? 

Get in on the padiddle fun!

It might make me a nerd, I can't help but laugh every time I spot a padiddle. Somehow a car with one headlight is a reminder to find joy in the little things. 

If you want to get in on the fun, email your Boise padiddle pics to ryanandmarco@townsquaremedia.com, and we'll start a local padiddle compilation. The pics will probably turn out blurry like all of mine have, but that's okay. We're doin' it for padiddle-obsessed Idahoans around the state! All 10 of us 😉

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