Crucially, Texans are highly aware of "everything is bigger in Texas" trope and take pride in it. My favorite example is that everyone knows that Texas State Capitol is taller than United States Capitol (92.24m vs 88m)... But nobody will ever tell you that Texas State Capitol is only 6th tallest state capitol.
> My favorite example is that everyone knows that Texas State Capitol is taller than United States Capitol (92.24m vs 88m)... But nobody will ever tell you that Texas State Capitol is only 6th tallest state capitol.
I guessed Nebraska, but was wrong. It’s Louisiana. Both finished in 1932, oddly.
The Texas State Capitol wasn’t the tallest state capitol finished in 1888 - that would have been Illinois - but it certainly was the largest. Indiana also finished their capitol in 1888, but was the shortest of the three. Weird how they seem to bunch up, as if there is some sort of “let’s build a capitol!” movement that takes hold from time to time.
Texan here. My experience has been quite different.
I lived in Austin for 7 years and I had no idea about this fact.
Whenever the whole "everything is bigger in Texas" comes up, everyone smiles and rolls their eyes. I now live in Houston and its the same. People here think its kind of a joke. Though Texans definitely do take pride in Texas. I just don't think they take themselves as seriously as your comment suggests.
Texans view Americans the same way Americans view the rest of the world - derisively, but it is those viewers who should be derided, and often are, by the groups that they deride.
America is a melting pot. It’s thousands of cultures at once. Acceptance is America. Texas is part of America. It’s no more American than Washington, Montana, or New York.
Texas can be a lot more than that. There's a lot of culture here, particularly in South Texas. But there's also contention. There's a disdain for that part of Texas. And the washed out, strip mall side of Texas wants very badly to make it seem like they're all there is. The boredom, the normality, the white picket fence, is a plague. It spreads and sucks the color out of everything, like The Wizard of Oz but in reverse.
For me, this will always be Las Vegas. Walking the strip my first time while at a conference was enlightening. Seeing all the American tropes that I'd seen in foreign media within a square kilometer and with my own eyes left me speechless.
To be clear, The Strip is nothing like living in Las Vegas. Nothing. Las Vegas, outside The Strip, is basically Phoenix, except there's video poker machines in the grocery stores.
I've never been to Las Vegas, but I remember my dad saying that there were slot machines in a CVS he went to there once. Growing up in Massachusetts, it took me a bit to get used to pharmacies even having alcohol after moving to New York, so this always amused me.
I loved my most recent trip to the US (it's been almost 10 years...wow) for anything but Vegas.
Something really didn't mesh with me.Too much focus on fakery and "big" I guess. (Especially all that "Roman" and "greek" flair after having just toured the real deal a few weeks earlier)
So we took advantage of the cheap accomodation and visited the stunning places around it.
Las Vegas is definitely something else... It's close enough that I've been in/through there several times over the years. That said, I just don't enjoy it. I used to enjoy a few good meals or a show stopping in on the way through as I like to do road trips. The customer service has sub-floored, the crowds have only grown and it's just far from even pleasant to where the show isn't worth it.
Not only is it not free, but fares on the strip buses are higher than the fares everywhere else. I think this is a result of subsidies for public transit not going to the tourists.
Everything's bigger in Texas, including egos.