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Gatorade Frost · 09-23-2005, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Pollo

Just out of curiosity, where are you, and why are you sitting in front of your computer instead of being stuck out in traffic?

Because my dorm's a little more hunkered down then my volvo. And I don't want to be sitting on the road when 50-75 mph winds hit me.

Quote:

Not all Texans are as conservative as most would think. We have a large percentage of liberal thinkers, and I am glad for it. Texas is a very diverse state, and it's sad so many stereotype us like they do.

Here's a post that I had on the Texas Reputation thread that I thought I'd throw in. Most of it doesn't apply, but it's just some Texas information I figured I'd throw in from my point of view.

Quote:

I suppose I can throw my two cents in. I was born in Texas - Humble, TX, actually, a suburb of Houston about forty-five minutes out, but I've lived in Plano, a suburb just North of Dallas, my whole life since I was about one. Mind you, I've never lived anywhere but this state, my whole family lives here (Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc.), so my view of the world is a bit dull, though I have travelled a bit across America and into Canada, and naturally the internet gives me a better more rounded view of the world than people far older then me may have.

I know a lot of people have stereotypes of Texas, and while many of them are true a ton of them are not. We aren't particularly the cowboy, gun-toting people that people assume we all once were. Of course my dad's father is a rancher (which technically makes him a cowboy I suppose), but my mom's parents were a banker and a teacher.

Texas, at least Dallas, has one of the highest concentrations of the tech industry in the world. Where I live I think there's something like fifty major corporations and headquarters within a fifteen minute drive - EDS, TI, Frito-Lay, and a number of others.

Dallas I believe does not in fact have the worst driving, or at least it may have significantly changed since you were here last. That award goes to Houston; in the time I spend in Houston I see people getting honked at more, getting cut off more often, and just a general feel of unfriendliness when driving. For me that's never been the case in Dallas, even during rush hour traffic which was pretty awful up until they've started finishing the High-Five.

Just to touch on some things mentioned, Texas does in fact have a rich history in itself, it was once a nation on its own before it was annexed into the Union, it's the only state legally allowed to fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag, and we fought our own war against Mexico to gain our freedom. I myself have family who fought at San Jacinto all those years back, which is an interesting tidbit.

The Death Penalty issue is one of those problems that some people see as a blemish to Texas, and others wave it around proudly, but I think like most things people ignore the silent majority who feel it's a necessary evil. It's like in politics when you see the people who make calls for Bush's assassination and the people who want to nuke the Middle East into glass; people simply notice the loudest and rudest generally. In Texas from what I can tell and from growing up here the majority that I've talked to believe in the death penalty, but they don't go walk around saying "We should kill anyone who could even be suspected of murder."

Interestingly enough the city of Dallas has the sixth largest gay population in the U.S. and the largest gay population in the state of Texas.

Texas is home to four of the fifty largest cities in America: Dallas, Fort Worth (though these two are often combined), Houston, and Austin.

Naturally Texas does get a bad name, though I doubt it's any different then believing California's full of fruits and nuts, New York has some the worst drivers in the world and everyone is rude, New Jersey is a garbage heap, etc. Just stereotypes people have for each state.

But I do wear my Texas pride proudly, I'm not going to lie. When people say " You're from Texas?!" I have no problem proudly saying "Yep, how about y'all?".

Edit - I know it doesn't flow well and a lot of it doesn't fit in to the conversation, I just figured I'd throw in a few words that seemed pertinent for some reason.