Sunny, 93 degrees, gas @ $2.89/gallon, no rioting - Just another reason to live here in God's country.
Sunny, 93 degrees, gas @ $2.89/gallon, no rioting - Just another reason to live here in God's country.
By definition, there is no such thing as a beautiful day in Texas.
Originally posted by: Kevin Lewis
By definition, there is no such thing as a beautiful day in Texas.
By definition, there is nothing you state that is the truth.
For me, Texas has some merit and a few memories. I lived and worked there for a total of about 8 years. East Texas (in and close to Mt Pleasant) and extreme south Texas (Edinburgh). I wasn't shot at one time at either location by any ethnicity and not a soul was lynched in public. Fortunate, I suppose. The work situation in Edinburgh was characterized by 100% Latino workmates. We drank a lot of beer and worked our collective asses off, in no particular order.
Originally posted by: Nines
For me, Texas has some merit and a few memories. I lived and worked there for a total of about 8 years. East Texas (in and close to Mt Pleasant) and extreme south Texas (Edinburgh). I wasn't shot at one time at either location by any ethnicity and not a soul was lynched in public. Fortunate, I suppose. The work situation in Edinburgh was characterized by 100% Latino workmates. We drank a lot of beer and worked our collective asses off, in no particular order.
I've spent more time in Texas than I've cared to, mostly on business. I greatly prefer east and south Texas to the barren wastelands of west Texas and the high plains/big cities of central Texas. The state overall is butt-ugly, but Austin is kind of nice, and San Antonio has its merits. You don't see or hear the race hatred much until you get close to the border.
Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston are traffic-choked, flat, featureless megalopolises. Like in any large cities, there's usually something going on, something to do. And of course you have the major cultural and sporting events to attend if you wish.
It's starkly evident what a conservative mindset government does and fails to do. The state highways are deplorably unsafe and badly maintained; state and city parks are a joke; health care is a clown car driven by drunks; and we all know about the foibles of Texas's "independent" power grid. It's pretty much a hellhole with some bright spots. Have yer some BBQ, grab a beer, and we'll hop in mah pickup truck and go shoot us some Messkins.
Well, I never had the first whisp of thought to shoot any of the dozen or so 'Messkins' I worked with on a daily basis for about 4.5 years in south Texas. I was the first Anglo ever to work at this particular enterprise in its history; I suppose the owners considered all that before offering me the position. There was a simple baseline of basic reciprocal respect between myself and these folk. It wasn't hard, controversial, or racial in any way beyond humorous and frivolous conversation. Like.."Juan! Go move that tree!". One of the guys gave me an habanero pepper one time at a deer camp; I'd had a few too many and bit into the pepper. I blamed that aftermath experience on myself.
I still communicate with the owners and a few of the work staff after forty -some years. So some of the negative Texas scenarios you describe I never saw in person. I don't suspect that any of those situations you mentioned occur at the degree / level you suggest either. Could be wrong.
Originally posted by: Nines
Well, I never had the first whisp of thought to shoot any of the dozen or so 'Messkins' I worked with on a daily basis for about 4.5 years in south Texas. I was the first Anglo ever to work at this particular enterprise in its history; I suppose the owners considered all that before offering me the position. There was a simple baseline of basic reciprocal respect between myself and these folk. It wasn't hard, controversial, or racial in any way beyond humorous and frivolous conversation. Like.."Juan! Go move that tree!". One of the guys gave me an habanero pepper one time at a deer camp; I'd had a few too many and bit into the pepper. I blamed that aftermath experience on myself.
I still communicate with the owners and a few of the work staff after forty -some years. So some of the negative Texas scenarios you describe I never saw in person. I don't suspect that any of those situations you mentioned occur at the degree / level you suggest either. Could be wrong.
Not blatantly, but in a thousand ways, Mexicans in Texas are regarded and treated as second-class humans. Is everyone in Texas a bigot? Of course not. The last scientific survey found eleven Texans who were not.
What really twists Texans' panties is that they can't afford to just hound the Mexicans out of the state/country; their economy would collapse. So the "legal" discrimination has been toned down, and the informal discrimination is less egregious and takes the form of slights and microaggressions. And the targets don't dare to object or fight back, for fear of that being used as an excuse for deportation, which in turn encourages the bullies.
I'm sure your personal experiences and behavior were as you describe, and good for you. But as you imply, a gringo working side by side, as an equal, with Mexicans wasn't exactly the norm then and isn't now.
I can contrast what I've seen in Texas with my experiences in Tucson, where my family lives. Tucson embraces its multicultural heritage and at times, it feels less like an American city than the northernmost city in Mexico. (And boy, is the food good.)
Unlike Miller's constant complaints about California, I'm not going to gripe about a place where I don't live and never would. I just can't help but contrast the way that Mexicans are treated in southern AZ and southern TX.
I for one regard and treat people not by what they are, but what they do. And every Mexican I've ever known has been an awesome person. Sounds like you found that as well.
