Y'all joke about Texas arrogance, but you're really missing the true calling card of Texans, which is the fixation with arming yourself. I mean, I'm all for the right to bear arms and take a relatively harsh view of most gun control laws, but I don't fixate on it. Instruments of warfare to me are just a tool that allows us to get on with the rest of our lives...not something I I focus on 24/7.
So yesterday I had a good internal chuckle when I accompanied my girlfriend to a family get-together in Tyler, TX. I've met her grandfather once, a while back, and he's a joker's joker. Almost nothing that comes out of his mouth is serious and he says it all with a straight face. Well, as soon as we walked in he greeted me and said "I got you this present" and he handed me a mid-size fixed blade knife with a nice sheath and belt clip. Based on our previous encounter I thought he was joking and kept waiting for the punch line. As he continued to talk I realized he was serious....he was randomly giving me a knife.
As I met and talked to her uncles and cousins the rest of the day I kept thinking "This is the most Texas thing that has ever happened to me. I showed up to a party unarmed so they corrected the oversight."
It's kind of like the third Miranda Right. You have the right to a weapon. If you do not have a weapon, one will be provided for you. Because TEXAS, dammit.
