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This Seattlest just returned from Austin, Texas, for the annual South by Southwest music festival. While enjoying Austin, we were struck by one thing over and over again--how much Texas really wants to be its own nation. Nothing drove that point home more than comparing Texas' Capitol building to our very own Capitol. The state building in Austin is easily three times the size of Washington States and rivals the size of the Capitol building in D.C.
Us:
photo by Flickr Contributor, lunaselena
Texas:
photo by Seattlest Abbey
Curiously, local beer slogans also drove this point home. In Washington you have Olympia Beer's "It's the Water." In Texas you have Lone Star Beer's "Drinking any other beer would be TREASON. Lone Star Texas' National Beer." This slogan is plastered across billboards all over Texas.
We might joke about secession in Washington and feel like we're in another world...but Texas really and truly means it.
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Actually I think Washington State could learn a thing or two from those states on the East Coast or in the South that actually have state pride. I find the utter absence of state pride to be rather dull and disappointing. As long as you don't become a complete freakshow, it is actually healthy to have some local flavor in contrast to a generic dullness that one seems to find here. How many Washingtonians perk up when they meet others from this state. They are indifferent for the most part. When folks from Penn. or Louisiana meet their faces brighten and they have an immediate connection. Maybe we are simply to "cool" in Seattle to let some "provincial" attitude overcome us?
siding with turnip2000. i moved here from san antonio (i'm from chicago). for the first few years i hated texas (and most texans) with a passion, but you can really start to appreciate it eventually :x the ominous pride is real, sure, but they're typically not stupid enough to believe that secession is a real possibility.
i went from pure hatred of the place (san antonio being especially nasty) to finding myself appreciating moments where i was sitting in someone's tiny little country home -- listening to people in the room play guitar and sing country music (i hate country), drink crappy texas beer and just have fun. if you're open to it, you can feel a real sense of pride for your country and appreciation for things/cultures that are different to you.
one thing that surprised me when i moved here is the amount of rednecks in washington state. how can people talk so much crap about a state or region when they're really not that different outside the metropolitan areas.
anyway, austin is pretty cool. seattle is better though.
i have to say, lone star is WAAAAAY better than ranier!
for the record, I LOVED Austin and the friendliness of Texas. If I could deal with the heat, which as a Seattle Native, I can't--I'd consider moving there in a heartbeat.
As a Washingtonian who's lived out of state, I am always glad to meet someone else from my home state. And I am proud proud proud to have been born and raised in Seattle. Hell, I'm thrilled to meet someone in Seattle FROM Seattle. :)
But the saying hi to folks on the street and acknowlegding of others was so appreciated. The people were as warm as the weather, and I thoroughly enjoyed both.
I piss my pants every time I meet someone from this area on my travels or living somewhere else.
It does not leave a good impression.
I don't think that we in Seattle are "too cool" to have state pride. Rather, there are just so many of us transplants that we're still individually and internally negotiating and balancing our allegiances. We still have loyalty to the places we are from or have lived; we are trying to figure out how to add Washingtonian loyalty to that mix. Lack of outward expression of state pride does not necessarily mean there is a lack of it.
As a native Texan who has called Seattle home for over 4 years now, I must say that I do miss the sunsets, thunderstorms, and ... uh... that's about it. Read my blog comparing the two cities: http://blog.culturemob.com/austin-vs-seattle-south-by-southwest-or-pacific-northwest
And by the way, Texas is actually the only state with the right to secede from the United States, can fly it's state flag at the same level as the national flag, AND the state capitol building IS actually higher than our nation's.
Oh yeah, they're proud down there.
Shilo Urban,
thanks for the link! I visit Austin 3-4 times a year and couldn't agree with your comparison more.