Upstate?!? What?!?

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marrymeflyfree
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#51 Post by marrymeflyfree » Sun Apr 06, 2008 10:54 am

SportsFan68 wrote:Actually, when I was down to West Texas last weekend for opening weekend of Spring Turkey season, I said y'all more than my hosts did. I think most of the Texan visitors I grew up around were from the Houston area.
I think Houstonians don't say that much...at least the ones in the city. I think sometimes they have a complex about stuff like that.

My training class at CO was getting a tour of the Houston crew room on our very first day on the job. There's a big desk there where people check in for trips and get paperwork and whatnot...and another girl and I went up there to take care of some business. The guy behind the desk said "y'all" in the conversation, and the other girl made a cute little joke about it.

A few minutes later, one of the supervisors came up to us and said that we'd offended someone by making fun of their speech. WTF, right? I went back to talk to them. The guy wasn't offended in the least, but someone else behind the desk wanted to teach us newbies a lesson about something or other I guess. The chick who complained sure was surprised when we told her that I was from Podunk, TN and the other girl was a born and bred Houstonian. We don't have Southern accents, and she just assumed we were high-falutin' Yanks making fun of the Texans.

It was such a stupid thing, but I found that sentiment a lot when I lived there. I guess it's a "don't mess with Texas" mentality. Some folks down there are really touchy about stuff like that!

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SportsFan68
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#52 Post by SportsFan68 » Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:09 am

marrymeflyfree wrote: It was such a stupid thing, but I found that sentiment a lot when I lived there. I guess it's a "don't mess with Texas" mentality. Some folks down there are really touchy about stuff like that!
There is that. They can make fun of themselves all day long, but some ignorant Coloradianite -- look out!
-- In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.
-- America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking. -- Wilma Mankiller

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SportsFan68
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#53 Post by SportsFan68 » Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:12 am

Let me qualify quickly before I get every Houstonianite on the Bored mad at me.

It's very much an individual thing. My brother had a born and bred Houstonian working for him at Pepsi for a brief time here in Colorado, and you could kid him about anything, including his accent and the Oilers. He inherited a hog farm in Nebraska, and he was gone with the wind. I bet it was a perfect fit.
-- In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.
-- America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking. -- Wilma Mankiller

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silvercamaro
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#54 Post by silvercamaro » Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:14 am

SportsFan68 wrote:
marrymeflyfree wrote: It was such a stupid thing, but I found that sentiment a lot when I lived there. I guess it's a "don't mess with Texas" mentality. Some folks down there are really touchy about stuff like that!
There is that. They can make fun of themselves all day long, but some ignorant Coloradianite -- look out!
In any part of the world, you can find people who seem to look for things to be touchy about or offended by. I think of this as "hypochondria of the soul."

Then again, in any part of the world, you can find people who enjoy being offensive.

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marrymeflyfree
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#55 Post by marrymeflyfree » Sun Apr 06, 2008 11:26 am

SportsFan68 wrote: There is that. They can make fun of themselves all day long, but some ignorant Coloradianite -- look out!

lol...yes. We were in Houston a month or two ago having dinner with some very close friends. I'd not spent much time down there in quite a while, and it really was striking just how many big pickups and SUV's there were on the road. A lot more than I'm used to seeing. We were kind of making fun of the trend a bit, but not in a bad way...and one of my friends (Texan all the way) really and truly was put off by it! He is a bit of a drama queen, but still! I felt bad, but really his 'patriotism' was kind of cute.

But I agree with your next post, too...it's unfair to generalize and certainly I do feel the need to stand up for my own Volunteer peeps when the redneck jokes go too far. But stereotypes do exist for a reason, I guess.

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Tocqueville3
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#56 Post by Tocqueville3 » Sun Apr 06, 2008 7:25 pm

marrymeflyfree wrote:
andrewjackson wrote: I think I can make a strong case that there is not much difference between southern Indiana and Tennessee so I'd lump them in there as well.


Nooooo......!

Tennessee is most definitely 'The South'. Indiana most definitely is not!

It always burned me up when Texans referred to themselves as Southerners when I lived there. They are not.
Amen sister!

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Beavis & Butthead
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#57 Post by Beavis & Butthead » Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:03 am

earendel wrote:It never formally seceded but there was a "rump government" was organized and seceded.

Huh, huh, huh! He said rump! Huh, huh!

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takinover
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#58 Post by takinover » Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:27 pm

andrewjackson wrote:
The book, The Nine Nations of North America, did a good job of defining Dixie and it included southern Indiana, southern Illinois and a chunk of Missouri along with Kentucky but not Maryland. The author even threw in West Virginia but excluded south Florida.

It's an older book, 1981, but a good read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Natio ... th_America
I'll make that and this the next books on my reading list.

Maybe I will find out why they think Detroit is the capital of the Foundry instead of NYC.

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