A hopeful note for my southern friends..

[Dixie-Dude]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta. 

[Dee]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

Same in Austin, Houston, Dallas (Dallas County), McKinney, and Ft Worth (Tarrant County).

My son in law grew up in Chicago, but you'd never know it. He left the northern bullsh!t voting up there.

The northerners here are indignant at my attitude towards California, and northern migration to the southern states, however if you drive on the main thoughofares in Dallas you will see huge billboards saying:"LEAVE YOUR VOTING HABITS IN CALIFORNIA AND UP NORTH".

They think I'm being extreme, but I can get an AMEN in just about any cafe in Texas. I love it when they say: "I've been to Texas and I didn't get any of that. They were really nice".

LMAO! The Texans knew they were "just visiting, and would eventually go home.

[oldandslow]

The majority Of Texans are nice, friendly people that will go out of their way to help a complete stranger. The problems arise when those strangers move there and start trying to turn it into what they ran away from. Same goes for my corner of NM. We are looked down on and resented by the smart and enlightened folks in and around Santa Fe and Albuquerque and our area is referred to as "Little Texas" or "The Third World" while looking down their nose. Got news for you so called betters, if not for the hard working folks in this area that contribute 40% of the state's budget you couldn't even have paved roads and most have no problem with the "Little Texas" name.

[Goldie]

I live about as far south in Texas as you can go. Even though it's Texas it seems like Mexico. I think the biggest problem here actually is the snowbirds who come in by the thousands and their wacky ideas more so than the Mexicans here. JMHO

[Dee]

I live about as far south in Texas as you can go. Even though it's Texas it seems like Mexico. I think the biggest problem here actually is the snowbirds who come in by the thousands and their wacky ideas more so than the Mexicans here. JMHO

Same here. But isn't it nice to know that when winter is over they'll go back north?

[ironglow]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

  As I said earlier... I expect  that if some lefties move south, they will likely congregate in liberal bastions such as Austin, joining in with the home-grown lefties.

  Snow birds..I can't account for some them, and I don't blame folks for being pleased at their departure. As anywhere, some are confirmed hard heads, others just "down home country folks".

  Living in the south, whether Texas, South Carolina or elsewhere, I learned a few tips quickly..

 1) Don't put down local custom.

 2) Don't make comparisons to "where you live or came from"...certainly not negative comparisons!

 3) Some folks, I will never please..so avoid them whenever possible.  Just "Accentuate the positive, depreciate the negative."

 4) Live the golden rule.

 5)  Don't talk too fast..

    Generally those rules seem to make sense. I found they worked well in Europe for me too, when I lived there.

  ..And oh, BTW.. Today's US map, by way of the 20th century population mobility phenomenon, doesn't look anything
  like the old, outmoded Mason/Dixon model!

  Allowing for some exceptions, it looks more like the map below..
 
 

[oldandslow]

Very few snow birds here but it sounds like Mexico in almost all businesses. My dentist retired late last year and I had to find a new one. I had an appointment there last week and I was the only anglo in the joint and there were a bunch of people. The only English I heard spoken amongst the clientele was a "thank you "when a mother thanked me when I retrieved a balloon and returned to her daughter that was obviously mentally challenged. Cute little girl and happy as could be but she kept letting the balloon go until her mother finally tied it around her wrist.

[oldandslow]

  Allowing for some exceptions, it looks more like the map below..[/quote]

That blue chunk in NM shows where the large majority of people reside and 90% of them are liberal to ultra liberal in their thinking and voting. This state has gone to hell in a handbasket in the last four years and there seems to no way to turn the tide.

[ironglow]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

Same in Austin, Houston, Dallas (Dallas County), McKinney, and Ft Worth (Tarrant County).

My son in law grew up in Chicago, but you'd never know it. He left the northern bullsh!t voting up there.
  See..there are some nice folks "up north", and some come from the big cities !  It looks like between you and DD , you're already batting 2 for 2 !


The northerners here are indignant at my attitude towards California, and northern migration to the southern states, however if you drive on the main thoughofares in Dallas you will see huge billboards saying:"LEAVE YOUR VOTING HABITS IN CALIFORNIA AND UP NORTH".
I tend to agree with your attitude toward Californians... just not ALL Californians..

They think I'm being extreme, but I can get an AMEN in just about any cafe in Texas.
  I could call for a negative vote about another state, in any country cafe around here, and likely get puzzled looks and questions, folks knowing any given area contains as many personalities as there are people.
   
   I love it when they say: "I've been to Texas and I didn't get any of that. They were really nice".
  I would like it if that statement were heard in any cafe around here too !
 

LMAO! The Texans knew they were "just visiting, and would eventually go home.
  Politeness and decency are not spelled that way around here...nor in the south, among the good folks I have met and dealt with there..

   There's a big world out there.. if a man stays upbeat and friendly, generally speaking, he will do fine in any of our  50 states.

[Dee]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

Same in Austin, Houston, Dallas (Dallas County), McKinney, and Ft Worth (Tarrant County).

My son in law grew up in Chicago, but you'd never know it. He left the northern bullsh!t voting up there.
  See..there are some nice folks "up north", and some come from the big cities !  It* looks like between you and DD , you're already batting 2 for 2 !


The northerners here are indignant at my attitude towards California, and northern migration to the southern states, however if you drive on the main thoughofares in Dallas you will see huge billboards saying:"LEAVE YOUR VOTING HABITS IN CALIFORNIA AND UP NORTH".

They think I'm being extreme, but I can get an AMEN in just about any cafe in Texas.
  I could call for a negative vote about another state, in any country cafe around here, and likely get puzzled looks and questions, folks knowing any given area contains as many personalities as there are people.
   
   I love it when they say: "I've been to Texas and I didn't get any of that. They were really nice".
  I would like it if that statement were heard in any cafe around here too !
 

LMAO! The Texans knew they were "just visiting, and would eventually go home.
  Politeness and decency are not spelled that way around here...nor in the south, among the good folks I have met and dealt with there..

   There's a big world out there.. if a man stays upbeat and friendly, generally speaking, he will do fine in any of our  50 states.

Your a legend in your own mind. You came down here years ago, stayed a little while, and like everything else, you now think you're an expert on Texas.
You don't know anymore now about Texas now, than you did "way back then". You just think you do, and it sounds perfectly silly.

[ironglow]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

Same in Austin, Houston, Dallas (Dallas County), McKinney, and Ft Worth (Tarrant County).

My son in law grew up in Chicago, but you'd never know it. He left the northern bullsh!t voting up there.
  See..there are some nice folks "up north", and some come from the big cities !  It* looks like between you and DD , you're already batting 2 for 2 !


The northerners here are indignant at my attitude towards California, and northern migration to the southern states, however if you drive on the main thoughofares in Dallas you will see huge billboards saying:"LEAVE YOUR VOTING HABITS IN CALIFORNIA AND UP NORTH".

They think I'm being extreme, but I can get an AMEN in just about any cafe in Texas.
  I could call for a negative vote about another state, in any country cafe around here, and likely get puzzled looks and questions, folks knowing any given area contains as many personalities as there are people.
   
   I love it when they say: "I've been to Texas and I didn't get any of that. They were really nice".
  I would like it if that statement were heard in any cafe around here too !
 

LMAO! The Texans knew they were "just visiting, and would eventually go home.
  Politeness and decency are not spelled that way around here...nor in the south, among the good folks I have met and dealt with there..

   There's a big world out there.. if a man stays upbeat and friendly, generally speaking, he will do fine in any of our  50 states.

Your a legend in your own mind. You came down here years ago, stayed a little while, and like everything else, you now think you're an expert on Texas.
  Nope..don't know if you are either.  I knew a fellow once who worked in a local hospital for over 30
 years, but I wouldn't let him treat and bandage an ingrown toenail.  He was a good janitor though.
   
You don't know anymore now about Texas now, than you did "way back then". You just think you do, and it sounds perfectly silly.
   ..At least something was said perfectly.. thanks..

  ...Big world out there... "Stay on the sunny side..laugh at the funny side.. keep the sunny side up !"

[ironglow]

Very few snow birds here but it sounds like Mexico in almost all businesses. My dentist retired late last year and I had to find a new one. I had an appointment there last week and I was the only anglo in the joint and there were a bunch of people. The only English I heard spoken amongst the clientele was a "thank you "when a mother thanked me when I retrieved a balloon and returned to her daughter that was obviously mentally challenged. Cute little girl and happy as could be but she kept letting the balloon go until her mother finally tied it around her wrist.

  Kindness is it's own reward, O&S..  Mom and the child will remember that and although they are not "somebody", who knows how far such kindness will extend?

  And Bill...save your red pencil, I'm moving to another thread...

[Goldie]

I would have to agree about the red, blue map detail, especially Texas in the extreme south. All the Mexicans here and most anybody else are strict democrats. This part of Texas is considered one of the poorest in Texas and the liberals here sure don't want to lose their easy earned government money. I thought there was a glimmer of hope when Myra Flores won a republican seat in Congress but that didn't last long and went back blue. Monica De La Cruz edged out a victory but it probably won't be long lasting.  Don't think for a minute these Mexicans don't know how to play the system and the democrats know it for sure.

[Dee]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

Same in Austin, Houston, Dallas (Dallas County), McKinney, and Ft Worth (Tarrant County).

My son in law grew up in Chicago, but you'd never know it. He left the northern bullsh!t voting up there.
  See..there are some nice folks "up north", and some come from the big cities !  It* looks like between you and DD , you're already batting 2 for 2 !


The northerners here are indignant at my attitude towards California, and northern migration to the southern states, however if you drive on the main thoughofares in Dallas you will see huge billboards saying:"LEAVE YOUR VOTING HABITS IN CALIFORNIA AND UP NORTH".

They think I'm being extreme, but I can get an AMEN in just about any cafe in Texas.
  I could call for a negative vote about another state, in any country cafe around here, and likely get puzzled looks and questions, folks knowing any given area contains as many personalities as there are people.
   
   I love it when they say: "I've been to Texas and I didn't get any of that. They were really nice".
  I would like it if that statement were heard in any cafe around here too !
 

LMAO! The Texans knew they were "just visiting, and would eventually go home.
  Politeness and decency are not spelled that way around here...nor in the south, among the good folks I have met and dealt with there..

   There's a big world out there.. if a man stays upbeat and friendly, generally speaking, he will do fine in any of our  50 states.

Your a legend in your own mind. You came down here years ago, stayed a little while, and like everything else, you now think you're an expert on Texas.
  Nope..don't know if you are either.  I knew a fellow once who worked in a local hospital for over 30
 years, but I wouldn't let him treat and bandage an ingrown toenail.  He was a good janitor though.
   
You don't know anymore now about Texas now, than you did "way back then". You just think you do, and it sounds perfectly silly.
   ..At least something was said perfectly.. thanks..

  ...Big world out there... "Stay on the sunny side..laugh at the funny side.. keep the sunny side up !"

Well, in the end, and this is. I want to thank you for telling me all about how Texans think, and for the perfectly executed demonstration of how "a know it all yankee" behaves to earn the moniker.

Adios,

[Mule 11]

My wife was born in Chicago, grew up in Milwaukee, has lived in S. Dakota and Oregon.  She is conservative and a Christian.  We live in Alabama.  So there is that.  A lot of conservative northerners have moved south.  So have a lot of liberal ones, especially to big cities like Atlanta.

Same in Austin, Houston, Dallas (Dallas County), McKinney, and Ft Worth (Tarrant County).

My son in law grew up in Chicago, but you'd never know it. He left the northern bullsh!t voting up there.
  See..there are some nice folks "up north", and some come from the big cities !  It* looks like between you and DD , you're already batting 2 for 2 !


The northerners here are indignant at my attitude towards California, and northern migration to the southern states, however if you drive on the main thoughofares in Dallas you will see huge billboards saying:"LEAVE YOUR VOTING HABITS IN CALIFORNIA AND UP NORTH".

They think I'm being extreme, but I can get an AMEN in just about any cafe in Texas.
  I could call for a negative vote about another state, in any country cafe around here, and likely get puzzled looks and questions, folks knowing any given area contains as many personalities as there are people.
   
   I love it when they say: "I've been to Texas and I didn't get any of that. They were really nice".
  I would like it if that statement were heard in any cafe around here too !
 

LMAO! The Texans knew they were "just visiting, and would eventually go home.
  Politeness and decency are not spelled that way around here...nor in the south, among the good folks I have met and dealt with there..

   There's a big world out there.. if a man stays upbeat and friendly, generally speaking, he will do fine in any of our  50 states.

Your a legend in your own mind. You came down here years ago, stayed a little while, and like everything else, you now think you're an expert on Texas.
  Nope..don't know if you are either.  I knew a fellow once who worked in a local hospital for over 30
 years, but I wouldn't let him treat and bandage an ingrown toenail.  He was a good janitor though.
   
You don't know anymore now about Texas now, than you did "way back then". You just think you do, and it sounds perfectly silly.
   ..At least something was said perfectly.. thanks..

  ...Big world out there... "Stay on the sunny side..laugh at the funny side.. keep the sunny side up !"

Well, in the end, and this is. I want to thank you for telling me all about how Texans think, and for the perfectly executed demonstration of how "a know it all yankee" behaves to earn the moniker.

Adios,

Bye, adios, sayonara.