Originally Posted by
texaspandj
Our state flower. Weirdly, I could name our state flower, tree, bird, song, motto, capitol, before the internet was a thing.
Most Texans identify themselves as Texans before anything else.
I was having this very conversation with my riding partner Sunday. He happens to work at the same company I worked at for 20 years. Great company, actually. Long story short, they asked how you identify yourself and I put other. They asked why, I said cause you didn't have Texan as an option. Oh BTW, he has a Texas flag tattooed on his back or chest IDR.
One thing, per our conversation, we could only identify one other state flag, california, due to the bear.
Oh also he was on his just washed '88 Iromman master and I was on my '86 Classic. And Dang It, his Ironman looked Good.....sorry I got carried away....carry on.
That is the truth about being a Texan. When people ask me about living in Texas, that's what I tell them. Good or bad, you are a Texan first and foremost. That carries with it certain responsibilities and ways of thinking. If you don't agree with, or intend to uphold those responsibilities or ways of thinking, then you don't need to be a Texan. The perfect example was when I went back for my niece's wedding in 2013. Here is the story:
The wedding was in mid June in Henrietta.(Wichita Falls area) The WF area was in a drought so severe that recycled sewer water was being used. We were delayed getting into Dallas a day because of the usual violent storms at that time of the year. We actually got there halfway through the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was a 6pm start. Temps at the start were high 90s. Place had no AC. Reception was outside because of no AC. The wind was blowing so hard that you had to have a paper weight to hold your plates down and blowing over cups with liquid in them. Lots of bugs and mosquitoes. At this point, I am waiting for the rest of the apocalypse to come. My Aunt turns to me and says, "so Pat, when ya'll moving back to Texas?" I looked at here and said, "we're not." I then explained to her and went over what I liked about the place I live now. I didn't bad mouth the Lone Star State at all. She looks at me and my brother who also lived in a different state and says, "Texas is the greatest place on Earth to live. If you don't live in Texas, you ain't no count." I looked at my brother and said, "I guess we ain't no count then." She and her husband had driven in from Snyder and were driving back after the reception. Most of my relatives are out in West Texas between Abilene and Lubbock. They think that's God's country out there. No better place for them. Each to his own.