keninabu!

Texans

I don't know why, but there is a common perception that Texans are stupid. Even within the US, the common perception is that Texans are dumb and unsophisticated, as well as loud and arrogant. Most will not associate Texan with "cosmopolitan". Many people look at the South as an anomaly, but if you were to do a proper analysis of the situation, it really isn't: the South, especially Texas, is one of the few economically growing and vibrant regions of the USA.

Texans give people the impression that they are dumb, largely because of their draawwl and their pronunciation: a pen becomes "ey pin", you becomes "y'all", people become "folks",and instead of waiting, you're "fixin' (to do something)".

It doesn't help that most people think of Texas as something of an ugly state, a large gargantuan that will never win a beauty contest. Tell people about Texas, and invariably people think about oil, pollution, hurricanes, Mexican immigrants, racial issues, etc.

And they think that Texas is very racially uniform, unlike the Northeast or California.

I think they are wrong on almost all counts, though.

Racially, Texas is extremely diverse by some measures. In particular, Houston has a very vibrant mix of races. Name a nation, and I can guarantee you they have some sort of presentation here in Houston. Iranians, Afghans, Indians, Pakis, Bangladeshis, Thais, Vietnamese, Korean, Lebanese, Ethiopian, Portuguese, Mozambique, Nigerian, Cambodian, Russian, Romanian, Honduran, Australian, British, Austrian... I can type until my fingers give up from muscle fatigue, and it still wouldn't fully cover every possibility.

Texas is a larger extension of the situation here in Houston, though in the more rural areas, it is largely a mix of Hispanics and whites. But even amongst the whites, there is a huge degree of diversity: one of my friends is of Polish descent, and she grew up in a Polish commune that is self-contained; they apparently speak a form of Polish that the Poles themselves abandoned in the 19th century or so. There is a portion of Texas called "Little Germany", with towns like Weimar and Fredericksburg, with native German-speakers. And Texas has a very large Greek population as well.

You can't always tell that. Rather, what you see is just a Texan, with the accent and with those goddamned huge trucks that suck up petrol like a hungry bastard, and you think "god, these people are all the same!"

But they are not.

And, because they appear uniform and identical, you think they are dumb.

But, they are not.

I think that Texans are some of the smartest people in the world. In fact, like the lab mice in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Texans are smart enough to convince you that they are dumb, when in fact they are not. It's not without accident that some of the most successful businessmen were Texans.

It's the culture. Texas has a culture that is very much about "go for it". It's as though they know life is short and you really don't have anything to lose, except everything, in which case you just build up and try again. It's as though they know the past sucked, and so they want their future to be better, and it's the only thing to look forward to. It's the same mentality that brought a bunch of people into the Alamo, to fight against the Mexican army and to die: only in Texas is this defeat considered a victory, a symbol worth looking up to.

It's this ENERGY, this buzz, this urge to create new things, and to be unencumbered by government and controls as far as possible, which makes Texas so admirable and which makes it the way it is. This energy is hidden behind the lazy drawl.
If you've ever seen a rattlesnake strike, you would agree that the amount of energy within its coils is deceptive and its poison is deadly and effective. Have you ever seen a rattlesnake move around with much visible energy and bounce, or ever heard a rattlesnake speak quickly in the clipped Manhattan manner? No, you never do. But by the time you do see it move with energy, it's probably too late for you to escape.

It's much the same thing with Texans, except they don't bite. But the same principle applies: you might think they are dumb, and when you finally realize they are not dumb, you've been beaten by them. Thrashed. And it's already too late.

My advice: never talk to a Texan about taxes... or about disliking Texas either. I would get out of the way before discussing either.

posted by keninabu @ 12:50 AM