For many months now, I’ve been keeping a list of painfully Texan things I’ve actually come across in my day to day life growing up and living in Texas. This is by no means meant to capture everyone who has ever or currently lives in Texas. It’s merely a set of large generalizations based on actual observations.
I have a pretty strange relationship with the Lone Star State. I don’t have any family beyond my parents or sister living here or anywhere near here, and besides my sister, I don’t have any family from Texas. But I have spent the majority of my life here, in Denton, TX to be specific, and by all means should consider myself a Texan. And more and more, I’m warming up to the idea. Or maybe I’m realizing how this quirky, albeit occasionally embarrassing, culture has shaped who I am.
There are many misconceptions non-Texans hold about this state. Those of us who have lived here since we were kiddos grew up trading stories of the ridiculous things our out-of-state cousins would ask us about Texas, firmly believing we rode horses to school. Occasionally though, Texans don’t disappoint. So here’s a list of:
Stereotypically Texan Things That (Some) Texans Actually Do
1. Take photographs in fields of bluebonnets (the State flower, y’all) during springtime
2. Listen to country music
3. Participate in 4H as a kid
4. Talk about Chuck Norris
5. Know someone that knows someone who knows Chuck Norris (I’m guilty of this one, guys)
6. Expect iced tea to be sweetened
7. Own Wranglers
8. Go line dancing at bars named Rockin’ Rodeo (the name of a bar literally a few blocks from my apartment)
9. Drive massive pick-up trucks with Don’t Mess with Texas bumper stickers
10. Think “Don’t Mess with Texas” is the truest thing ever said
11. Eat Pecan Pie (pronounced pee-can paai)
12. Hate immigrants
13. Actually care about the UT/OU football rivalry even if they didn’t go there, live there, or even really like football
14. Buy beer in drive-thru beer-selling establishments aptly named Beer Barn, which actually resemble barns
15. Have racist grandparents
16. Be completely unaware that certain customs are uniquely Texan and aren’t done anywhere else. My friends and I were shocked last week after discovering Homecoming mums and garters are only made and worn in Texas.
17. Make campaign ads like this one:
18. ACTUALLY elect Senator (Big Bad) John Cornyn
I like Texas. I was station in Texas for six years. Good, strong and honest people. Thank you for the interesting blog.
I like Texas, too. Most days, at least. As far as states go, it has a lot of character which keeps things interesting.
Thanks for reading!
I wrote about a thousand poems in Texas. Austin gave me motivation to write. I did a few poetry readings there. Last time I read in public was in Austin.
I don’t live in Texas, but I have racist grandparents who hate immigrants! It sounds like an interesting place to visit though, if I ever make it to America
That’s hilarious! Texas is an interesting place. It has a number of negative associations, some of which I haven’t done my part to dispel in this post. But overall, it’s a pretty charming place that’s often overlooked as a place worth seeing in the US. I mean, we’re no NYC or Los Angeles, even our big cities like Austin, Dallas, and Houston. But there’s something endearing about the South, Texas in particular.
This is the best post…you should make this into a series if you can think of others. People always ask me what Texas is like and I find it quite difficult to describe. Haha. If nothing else, Texas has A LOT of character. and the MUMS AND GARTERS THING STILL BLOWS MY MIND.
Oh dear. Too funny. The ad: scary funny. Scary in that it’s probably serious. Keep up the good work.
I’ve grown up w/ all those things in Austin, but not the immigrant or racist part. I figured ALL high schools had mums; we certainly did. But I guess in Texas we just don’t give a rat’s bum if the rest of the world doesn’t do it. I do recall being at UT w/ t-shirts that said, “A&M sucks, but O.U. swallows,” so you are right about that one. And we say “puh-CONN.” I thought “pee-can” was how silly Billy Crystal said it in “When Harry Met Sally.” I just read a blog about a California girl stuck in the nightmare of NYC, so just be glad you’re in Denton.
I have lived my entire life thinking those large ribbon monstrosities were a homecoming staple all over the country. So strange. I definitely heard the “pee-can” version from the residents I served when I worked in a retirement home during high school, but growing up I adopted “buh-con,” incorrect b-sound and all, as my little kid pronunciation, so I must have heard both. Texas is pretty great, Denton especially, quirks and all. I’m actually heading the NY in a few months, so I’ll be sure to take note of all of the eccentricities I’m unaware are unique to these here parks.