A few words on bein' a Texan...

jimmyb said in comments to this post...

I could be a Texan?!!?!!?

You honor me, sir.

And you could be an Ohioan.

Or is that an insult...?

There's a whole lot of folks out there who measure up to the honor of bein' a Texan, I think. Texas is just as much a state of mind as it is a geographical location, if not more so. Call it like you see it, live and let live, and that sort of thing. You don't necessarily have to be born or raised between the Sabine and Rio Grande to measure up to the lofty Texas standard, and by the same token just because you were born and/or raised in Texas doesn't automatically make you authentic. For some reason the late, lamented Molly Ivins comes to mind, the Texas-born newspaper columnist who trafficked in hoary cliches, faux populism, trusty canards, and half-truths (and yes, Mr. Chaffin, I did steal that from you. :)). Maybe I would have thought differently had I agreed with what she said, but I still can't help but think I'd have been immensely embarrassed for my state and my political ideology that someone like Molly was who represented them both. (As far as Texas newspaper columnists go, I much prefer Leon Hale.)
As far as bein' an Ohioan -- well, I haven't met that many, though I'd guess most of 'em were good, salt-of-the-earth folk, much like Texans. I did have this one girl from Lorain screw me over but good several years ago, but I'm not gonna paint everybody from the Buckeye State as deceitful, clueless ****s. I would consider bein' an Ohioan as a compliment in most cases. Now, New Yorker, New Jerseyan or Massachusettsite, THAT might be different... ;-)