Texas as I remember it.

I lived in Killeen for a while in the late 1960s. This is so typical...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzabmVIU6EQ

I'm still laughing.

Typical? I've lived here for a lot more than a while. Sixty-eight years, actually. And that bit was nowhere near typical of my experience.

I'm not laughing.

When I was younger, I was embarrassed about the typical outsiders view of my home. I listened to those whom I thought at the time were a bit more refined. I've learned better.

Today, I tend to take the denigration personally.



Just me.
Ann

That was a real Texan talking in Texas to other Texans. It wasn't a parody. I don't know where you spend your time, but those wonderful people are there and they're real. Maybe you should get out more and learn about your own culture. I spent lots of time with folks just like that.

And, for what it's worth, the video link was sent to me by a Texan. And he was laughing when he told me about it.

So lighten up, lower you radar, and quit looking for denigration where none exists. Maybe a sense of humor transplant would help. Sheesh.

Al Stevens wrote:

I lived in Killeen for a while in the late 1960s. This is so typical...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzabmVIU6EQ

I'm still laughing.

That is funny Al. It reminds me of a story "When the shit hit the fan."

The telling of a yarn by oldtimers is always great to hear. It reminds me much of the fish and hunting stories told by oldtimers when I was a kid.

Thanks for the laugh.

Not typical; not funny, but I've had my say.

Ann

alj wrote:

Not typical; not funny, but I've had my say.

It surprises and disappoints me that you can't see it, can't feel it. Every culture has such people in its majority. The dialects are different, the stories are different, but they are the minds and hearts of their places and peoples. Every now and then a few of those who would hold what they mistakenly believe to be loftier and, therefore, superior standards of behavior try to disassociate themselves from the core culture. It's sad because of what they are missing. But elitist snobbery and discrimination never trumps everyman because it's rarely as interesting and never as enduring or endearing.

"God must love the common man. He made so many of them." A. Lincoln

Some of the greatest stories have been written about homespun culture.

Ann, I think you're trying to capture the past as it was with your Redstone Valley story. Language used in the time frame gives the story flavor and credibility. I believe you are using that along with manner of dress.

If you guys are looking for me to back away from my position, it isn't going to happen anymore than I will be prodded into defending it.

f you think it is funny, laugh away. I'm not trying to change your perception. I have stated mine. I feel no need to say it again.

Ann

It is not just Texas that is blessed with old farts telling stories. I imagine that is what folk tales are all about. The old ones see things with a lot more humor than we do. I wonder about this stuff at times.
There are mostly older people out here in Duette. They have lived here for generations. They get buried in the Duette Cemetary. Every single one of them can tell stories like the good old man that Al posted. Many young people never want to hear that story again. I would bank that everyone who was witness to a storytelling, remembers the story when they were told until they are 96.

I love old people. I am not that far removed.

Ann, Old people are the same all over the world. They love to tell stories.

I am glad of that.

And if I had just posted the video without the reference to location, would you have reacted the same? If you had laughed along with us, well, point made. If you had recognized the dialect and humor as being Texan and gotten pissed, well, point made.

I lived in Harlingen, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Austin TX. I've been to Killeen a few times. Not in the 60s, but in the late 70s through mid 90s.

Since then I've traveled pretty much the entire state. And I've traveled the rest of the country. Texas is a unique chunk of America. There is no other state quite like California. There is no other state quite like Texas. Actually, though we are the UNITED States of America, most of the states just have their own "personalities".

The interesting thing about Texas, though, is that, even within the state it has different "personalities". El Paso is very much a different city than Austin. Dallas and San Antonio are certainly not the same. Still most Texans are pretty easy to spot by their distinct speech. (Or because they call all sodas "a coke".)

I do not miss the nine month long summers and humidity of south Texas. But I do miss making sun tea and the smoked BBQ!!