Member-only story
I’m From Texas …
… And I’m So Embarrassed to Say That
I was raised to love my state — The Great State of Texas — as much as my country. In Texas, we say we’re the second biggest state behind Alaska, but if you melted Alaska down, it would just be a puddle. When I lived in Colorado for one year, I met people who didn’t think much of Texas for the first time in my life. My reaction? I bought a windshield screen for my car with the Texas flag on it. There was one other person from Texas where I worked, and she was so excited that another Texan came to work where she did, she went right up to me and gave me a hug, and asked me what part of Texas I was from. When I told her El Paso, I thought she was going to spit on the ground when she said, “Hell, that’s not even part of Texas.” Maybe because we’re a blue county? Because our population is predominantly Hispanic? I didn’t bother to ask, but I responded that those were fighting words. The only thing we had in common other than our state of birth was that we both said “y’all” all the time.
Texas has bragging rights for being the only state that was also a country at one time. We’re also the only state that can legally fly our state flag at the same height as the American flag. When I tell someone I’m from Texas, especially if they’re from another country, they often assume I live on a cattle ranch, ride horses, drive a pickup truck…
