Since moving to New York City from Texas, I have encountered some very interesting perspectives about what goes on down in the Lone star state. So I thought I would prove true or false to some of the Myths and Misconceptions about Texas.
1. Texas is notorious for its foods.
The consensus was that food in Texas was all fried and dipped in barbecue sauce. I'm not going to say that is all true but it's definitely not false either. You can find most foods deep fried, from your everyday fried chicken, to your fried pickles and even your fried butter, this is true but I assure you there is more to southern cuisine than breaded grease. Barbecue, on the other hand, is as serious as people think it is. Lockhart, Texas is the Barbecue capital of the world and every other city in Texas is trying to beat them out for that title. It's serious.
2. Sweet Tea
It's true, sweet tea is indeed the lifeblood of Texas and the south. Most food establishments are ranked by how good their sweet tea is. It's honestly a southern delicacy.
3. The heat in Texas is as real as you think it is.
Summers down there are gruesome because you have the Gulf bringing in the wet heat but the desert in the east bringing in the dry heat. 98 degrees is a great day during a Texas summer, because the next day will probably be 106 and you won't be allowed outside. You can literally fry an egg on the sidewalk. Literally.
4. Though the heat is awful, Texas does have winter.
It gets below thirty and things freeze. No, it's not the same as winter in the north but it's not just 80+ degrees all year round there.
5. Yes, we have cities. Multiple cities.
We are not just a network of small towns connected by dirt roads. I have met so many people who think everyone in Texas rides a horse to school and it's honestly ridiculous. We have cities, with buildings, and street lights, and cars.
6. Yes, a lot of people in Texas have southern accents but not everyone.
Personally, I think I know more people without accents than people with accents. There the words here and there that all Texans say with southern twang but we don't all sound like Paula Dean and the guys from "Duck Dynasty."
7. We don't all have cattle.
I don't know a single cattle rancher or farmer. Texas has plenty of city slickers who have never milked a cow, or ridden a horse, tended to crops.
8. Texas is in the Bible belt. It's true.
Baptist, methodist, all the other Christian-ists. People have walls in their home completely covered in decorative crosses and every version of the bible on a shelf or in a drawer somewhere. But there are also plenty of atheists and agnostics that are sitting at their dinner table waiting out the pre-meal prayer and begging not to go to church every Sunday and Wednesday.
9. Southern hospitality is very real.
I realized when I moved here to New York that there is a difference in the way people treat each other but it's not rudeness by any means. New Yorkers just don't have time to say good morning and hold the door for you because they are late for the bus and are probably going to be late for work. It's nothing personal.
10. It is not "the heart" of the south.
Sandy from SpongeBob convinced everyone at a young age that Texas was the heart of the south but I think on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being as southern as you can get, Texas is maybe a 6. There are so many other southern states that really bring the sweet tea and Jesus to the USA.
Please keep these in mind when you meet someone from the Lone Star State. Or don't, Texans love talking about Texas and they would be happy to correct you.
