Just curious... Texas Pride?

[GSLevel9]

Watching the Yankees losing today vs. the Texas Rangers and noticed there are many fans in the stands with big full sized Texas flags waving them like crazy. I don't see Pennsylvania state flags at Phillies games, Illinois state flags at Cubs games or California state flags at Dodger games...

Is it really just a "Texas" thing?

In addition... the last time I was in the Metroplex I noticed "Stars" as a part of many architectural features around town...

So what's up with that? Is it the same in ANY other state?

[tammywammy]

1. I think it is a Texas thing

BTW, the last week, someone's had a Texas flag hanging above their cube...I am in the DFW area. There's also a big Texas Rangers deal hanging on a soft wall too.

[Skittles]

2. Texans are very proud of their flag

yup

[asjr]

3. Don't you remember that ad for Texas some

years ago "Texas is a whole other country"?

[Gman]

4. As a lifelong Texan of well over 50 years

It's a Texas thing.

[GSLevel9]

5. I think it's pretty cool...

and at least 45% of the state votes DEM ;)

[Gman]

13. I like to think it still is

even though the state's red. But Texas is nothing like the romanticized conservative haven that the RW would have you believe it is. There are some pretty conservative areas, but way back in my parent's generation, they called that the Bible Belt.

[Subdivisions]

21. 30 years of my 46 here. It is a Texas thing. n/t

[Regret My New Name]

26. Nice Chilean flag avatar... :P

[Subdivisions]

36. Thank you. I put it up in honor of the 33 Chilean miners who were

trapped underground for 70 days.

I also posted a link to a Yahoo! Buzz item about how a Texas county confused the Texas state flag with the one of Chile on their voting ballots. You can read about that here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=180&topic_id=66110&mesg_id=66110

[Regret My New Name]

48. Wait... Oh man... Was that always the Chilean flag?

I could have sworn that was the Texas one this morning.... Then again, it was before my morning run, so I may not have been fully "here"/

[alarimer]

53. There was one county in Texas that put the Chilean flag on their ballots.

The absentee ballots I think. But nobody noticed until it was too late.

[rainbow4321]

6. LOL, you see the thread earlier this week about some freepers thinking

the flag that was being waved in CHILE was the **TX flag**??? Yes, really..apparently they were serious and were saying online how cool it was that all those Chileans at the rescue site were waving TX flags on TV.


My native Texan 23 yr old daughter went on a mini vacation to another state not too long ago, she came back and told me how confused she was there for a while, she kept seeing "the same flag" being flown all over..then she realized "oooohhh, that is this STATE'S flag". Silly kid "forgot" that there ARE other state flags besides Texas'!!!

[GSLevel9]

7. god, freepers are dumb... nt

[rainbow4321]

8. Pretty much...I saw the flags, also, but the furthest my thoughts went

were "their flag KIND OF looks like our state flag, I didn't know that"..but the flag thoughts ended there.

[Regret My New Name]

25. Someone said that to me too... No exactly those words but they asked why they had the Texas flag

I was amused by the question.

[theophilus]

9. The Lone Star state. n/t

[virgogal]

10. Many teams' fans have traditions like this flag waving,some have towels

to wave,and the Red Sox have Sweet Caroline as a ridiculous sort of tradition.

It was a great game and I'm thrilled for Texas. I hope they can keep it up.

[Horse with no Name]

11. Texas thing

But damn I loved the Rangers winning and was happy that there weren't any Confederate flags flying!

[proteus_lives]

12. It's a Texas thing.

Half my family lives in Texas, I know it well.

It comes from fighting their own war, being their own country (only 9 years but it still counts) and gaining their own mythos.

[AlinPA]

14. Is there still talk about secession? I know their Governor was threatening to do it at one time.

[proteus_lives]

15. According to my relatives, it was a joke.

It provided radio and talk show fodder but no one takes Perry seriously.

The office of governor itself isn't taken seriously.

[AlinPA]

16. With Bush having been in there how could they take the office seriously now?

[proteus_lives]

19. No.

[Terry in Austin]

40. Goes with the "Texas, a whole other country" thing

Secession talk? Mostly just Texas nationalism expressed in other ways than football. Not sure how much of a threat it would be in reality, but it does convey a certain attitude that seems to go with the package.

More on the "whole other country" below.

[AlinPA]

47. When I was in Texas on business trips, people were very nice to me. The cookouts were incredible.

[HuckleB]

18. Mythos is a great way to put it.

[HuckleB]

17. It may also be a football "thing" (perhaps via soccer in Mexico) coming to a baseball game.

A few MLS teams, and soon to be MLS teams, have fans that will wave the flag of their city at games.

[TexasObserver]

20. Yes, it is a Texas thing.

A favored Texas line ...

Don't ever ask a man where he's from. If he's from Texas, he'll tell you, and if he's not, you don't want to embarrass him.

[MilesColtrane]

22. It's partially a holdover from Texas having been it's own country.

Texas is still the only state which may, if its populace approved, divide into five states.

Believe me, when you have to drive across a large portion of it, Texas still feels like it is a separate country.

Heck, Dallas county is larger than Rhode Island.

[TexasObserver]

23. There are a lot of counties in Texas bigger than Rhode Island.

The three states which seem to have the most sense of state pride/arrogance are Texas, California and New York. I think size, wealth, power, influence, population, and importance in presidential politics all play a role in that.

[Horse with no Name]

42. The King Ranch is bigger than Rhode Island. n/t

[Regret My New Name]

24. hehe... Yeah man, Texas is so weird like that. When I first moved here it was totally WTFy for me..

[TBF]

27. It's a Texas thing - they could be their own country down here.

I'm a non-native Texan, have lived here for the past 7 years. I feel like I am visiting a foreign country and would love to see employment move us out of here pretty soon. I have met many very good folks down here, but it really is different.

So much area - takes at least 12 hours to drive across the state. Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio are all top-10 cities in terms of population. Culture is American/Mexican - even the food is spicier no matter what you're eating. Different scenery in different parts of the state, and what used to be a vibrant coastline. They have resources to support themselves. In preschool the kids are taught to say the allegiance to the State of Texas. On a daily basis I feel like I'm living in a warped "Leave it to Beaver" episode. They talk about religion all the time (just part of their lifestyle - going to church and church events are a huge deal), they are very conservative politically, and even some of the soccer moms carry handguns in their Louis Vuitton bags (I know, I've met them). I grew up in the midwest and lived on the east coast for quite awhile before this move. It is just very, very different in culture here.

I hear them talk about succession and even I think it might be a good thing (after I get myself out of here of course).

[rainbow4321]

29. LOL...took my kids to see The Alamo when they were little

One was still in elementary school. She was outright devastated when she saw a SODA machine inside the Alamo building. See, in school they must have drilled it into the kids that the building is sacred ground. So the thought of it having that machine in there was just too much for her to wrap her mind around...she was horrified. She was walking around with the vid camera recording every nook and cranny of the place and that is when she found the soda machine.

[WolverineDG]

37. I'm surprised the DRT allowed that

yet kicked out & sued 2 members for suggesting they look for more funding. :eyes:

dg

[gaspee]

32. I lived in West Texas for awhile

Couldn't get out of there fast enough.

[yella_dawg]

44. 7 years??

Seven years and that's all you've seen in Texas? Let me suggest hanging out on Sixth St. in Austin for a weekend. Hit the Renaissance fairs around Dallas and Houston. Bike around Big Bend. Lot's more to see than God Nazis and their guns. Try the German food around New Braunfels or Muenster. Ease up on the stereotypes and you might find a hell of a party.

[TBF]

62. I've been to the Renaissance Fair in Houston

and I've visited both New Braunfels and Muenster (and the food was quite good), along with Austin, San Antonio and South Padre. But that doesn't change what I see day to day living here. Maybe it would be quite different living in Austin, but I am in the suburbs of Houston with it's mega-churches and conservative mind-set.

[WillowTree]

49. Succession?

[ScreamingMeemie]

57. It's amazing, because apparently even Houston is vastly different.

I've been here for 2 years and my neighbors are non religion talking, non gun carrying, "normal" folks. For me, it's just like Detroit... without the snow. No secession talk in my little corner of NW Houston. :hi: What you describe doesn't sound like my Houston experience at all.

I love it here. :)

[kentauros]

60. I concur, on all accounts

:hi: ScreamingMeemie! Glad to hear you still love it here. Did you see the Houston Press' "Best of Houston" issue recently? My favorite falafel place, Zabak's, made both "Best Mediterranean" and "Best Falafel" :D

Now on to the OP of this subthread.

The only mention of guns I ever hear is from those that hunt. You get that everywhere. Same for those that are involved with their churches. Is that exclusive to Texas? No, it's not. It sounds like you're talking about life in the sub and ex-urbs, like Katy, Tomball and Conroe. Used to be, those small cities were out in the country. Now I work with people that live way out there and commute every day to Houston :o

But if you talk to those that live closer to the bigger cities, you don't find those country attitudes. You will find more liberals and more culture than simply "Tex-Mex". I take it, too, you've never had Thai food where they point out that non-Thai's usually can't take anything hotter than "medium" ;)

[ScreamingMeemie]

66. I am glad to be here.

We have found so many awesome things to do. I love the rich history. My favorite place is Washington on the Brazos and we love strolling along the Buffalo Bayou. It's a great town.

[TBF]

63. I am south of Houston -

Brazoria County is getting better in some areas (I did work on the Obama campaign and found a few like-minded folks), but it's still a very red area.

[tanyev]

28. Oh yeah, the flag waving contest down here never stops.

How else do you prove yours is bigger?

[rainbow4321]

30. Everything is bigger here...even our $20 billion state deficit

There's something to be proud of, huh?

-------------------------------

There is an obsession with being the biggest/tallest even within the state...don't know if you ever drive by the Dallas Zoo. There is a huge ass, deformed looking giraffe statue in front. If you notice, it's head is facing the sky and it's tongue is sticking out with a blade of grass on top. They added the blade of grass so it could keep it's largest TX statue title. Though I suggest you not look too hard for it as you drive down I-35, could be prove to be fatal on that highway!


http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/6522

The Giraffe is promoted as the "Tallest Statue in Texas," a metal sculpture over 67 ft. tall just outside the zoo parking entrance. Randy Stevens writes: "Don't know exactly how tall it is, but it reportedly was going to be a tad shorter. When the giant Sam Houston went up on Hwy 45 it was designed to be barely taller. So Dallas put a blade of grass on the giraffe's tongue to gain the 'Tallest in Texas' title."]


And if you tour Austin, one of the things they brag about is that the State Capitol Building is "taller than the US Capitol Building"

[Horse with no Name]

43. Now wait a minute

You are WRONG!
I just saw a commercial for Rick Perry that says he balanced our budget.
If it was on the teeeveeee it must be true!:shrug:

[WolverineDG]

46. No one with hair that good

could possibly lie about the budget. Right? Right? :shrug:

(psst, early voting starts tomorrow! :bounce: :bounce: )

dg

[unblock]

31. in texas the have texana stores and they're always PACKED!

every state has some store, such as a gift card shop, that also sell state memorabilia, but i've never seen a store other than in texas that has an ENTIRE STORE dedicated to state memoroabilia.

you can get texice -- ice cube trays that make ice in the shape of the state of texas.
you can get PASTA in the shape of the state of texas!
of course you can also get state flags and maps and books and such.
you can also get throw pillows and coffee table items and wall hangings with texas pride sayings like "i wasn't born in texas but i got here as fast as i could".

imagine the state pride of new jersey and reverse it. then you get texas.

note that texas used to be an independent republica for all of nine years. there's tremendous pride in this, though mostly this was just a waiting period for admittance into the union. texans also often claim they're the only state in the union that used to be its own republican, but this is not quite true as hawaii was of course its own republic as well, similarly in waiting for admittance to the union.


no other state come close to texas in terms of state pride.

[ScreamingMeemie]

58. The store, at least here in Houston, is called "Y'alls" and you can

get just about anything in the shape of Texas, or with the flag motif and/or blue bonnets on it. :)

[kentauros]

61. It must be in The Galleria or one of the other big malls

because I've never seen it or even heard of it. And I'm a Texan, by birth! :P

[ScreamingMeemie]

65. Nope. Don't do the big Malls.

It's in Old Town Spring, the original town of spring. It's been there for a few decades. :)
http://www.hellohouston.com/Business_Profile/2493144_25/Y_alls_Texas_Store.cfm

[mitchum]

33. Their valorous myth deals with a military defeat while trying to steal land in order...

to expand slavery.
Who wouldn't be proud of that?

[WolverineDG]

39. not precisely true

but don't let the facts get in your way....

dg

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. “Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things:

“Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you’re going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love.” - Butch Hancock

[Terry in Austin]

35. Yup. Texas, a whole other country.

"Texas, a whole other country" is an official slogan used in some of the state's tourism promotion campaigns. It always bothered me a little that they didn't go with the more true-to-life "it's a whole 'nuther country." I don't know -- I live in Austin, which is not actually in Texas but just happens to be surrounded by Texas. But that's a whole other story.

John Steinbeck, a Texan by marriage, had a good take on the Texas phenomenon in his book Travels With Charley:

Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation in every sense of the word. ...A Texan outside of Texas is a foreigner.

...I've studied the Texas problem from many angles and for many years. And of course one of my truths is inevitably canceled by another. Outside their state I think Texans are a little frightened and very tender in their feelings, and these qualities cause boasting, arrogance, and noisy complacency -- the outlets of shy children. At home Texans are none of these things. The ones I know are gracious, friendly, generous and quiet.

...Like most passionate nations Texas has its own private history based on, but not limited by, facts. The tradition of the tough and versatile frontiersman is true but not exclusive. It is for the few to know that in the great old days of Virginia there were three punishments for high crimes -- death, exile to Texas, and imprisonment, in that order. And some of the deportees must have descendants.

[rainbow4321]

56. My daughter travels with her current job

with a group of other people who live around the country.

They all get the question "where you from?"...the others will answer with random states and the person/people asking the question don't give it a second thought...then they ask my daughter who answers Texas. Whoever asks her the question stares at her acts like she responded Mars or some country that is millions of miles away: "realllly? Wow" and they looked at her really surprised. When she first told me she said "I don't know what it is, other people say their homestate and it's not a big deal, I say Texas and it's a big deal". Everytime, no matter who asks me".

She came home for a few weeks and we went out for dinner and drinks. She was just thrilled to not have someone look at her like her drivers license was a fake ID...cuz when she is elsewhere in the country they all get really perplexed by a TX driver's license, really examine it, can't find the birthdate. The night we went out the guy checking ID's just laughed at her when she told him how it took her coming back to TX for someone to be able to read her TX DL and not think it is fake.

[Dreamer Tatum]

38. Texas is a proud state. Tough for certain people to understand. nt

[IMATB]

41. I can honestly say

THE nicest people I've ever met were Texans.

People from Nova Scotia are a close second.

[kenny blankenship]

45. Texas Pride! They're here, they're steers

Get used to it.

[pinboy3niner]

50. Jon Stewart said Texas has two mottos

The first, "Dont Mess With Texas," is a tough, macho threat. The second, "Remember the Alamo," highlights one occasion on which someone DID, in fact, successfully mess with Texas. :)

[WolverineDG]

52. and a few weeks later, they got their asses handed to them

one of those "won the battle, lost the war" things many non-Texans fail to understand.

dg

[Manifestor_of_Light]

51. Yep it's a whole mindset.

I have a Republic of Texas Land Grant, dated 1845, and signed by Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas. He was convinced that Sam Houston hated his guts and was stopping his political career. So Anson went to the state capital in Houston, which was where the Rice Hotel is, downtown, and blew his brains out. He's buried in Glenwood Cemetery.


The objective of the Texas Public School System: To teach a child to write a simple declarative sentence without the word "bullshit" in it.

:rofl:


W.C. Brann had a newspaper in Waco called The Iconoclast. He didn't think much of the Vatican City of the Baptists. One of his quotes: "The problem with Baptists in Texas is that we do not hold them under water long enough."

One of the natives plugged Mr. Brann in the chest in 1900 and killed him. Mr. Brann was quick enough to pull his pistol and kill his murderer.


Texas has many different kinds of land -- swamps, mountains, desert, plains. And it's not the same all over. There are liberals in the big cities and Austin and conservatives in the country.

Houston has gotten far more multi-cultural in the last thirty or forty years. One reason is that 250,000 Vietnamese people moved there. The rich people with oil money had no class and no taste, but threw money at the symphony, the opera and the ballet. Oh, but in the 60s you couldn't play any radical twentieth-century music - like Gustav Mahler, or Carl Nielsen, or Pendrecki!! Too radical!!

[kentauros]

55. Houston alone is far more international than most people know.

Hell, even other Texans don't seem to know it, or they're jealous :P

Here's a great story by The Houston Press about the international choices of food here. I never have to think what chain restaurant I want to go to for eating out.

Planet Houston - The world's great cuisines converge here.

[ScreamingMeemie]

59. +1

Love it here.

[Luciferous]

54. My husband is from Texas and says that Texas pride is one of

the things he misses most about it. Texas is the only state I've ever been to where the pride of its citizens is noticeable, but I live in IL- not much to be proud of here ;)

[deaniac21]

64. The team's name is Texas Rangers. Not named after a city, duh.