mgood wrote:VMI77 wrote:Years ago when I was forced to live in the Northeast I remember hearing about some survey that asked people if they identified first with their state or with their country. I don't remember the exact numbers, but for every state except Texas something like 95-99% said country. In Texas something like 15% said state.
I've heard something similar, supposedly reported by people in other countries when they ask an American where they're from. People from other states tend to say "America" or "The United States. People from Texas say they're from "Texas."
When I visited Europe in 1983, we told everyone we were from Texas when asked. People liked that - they still had the idea that John Wayne was out in West Texas somewhere riding his horse and shooting his six-gun.
In Germany, too often some rowdy folks would come by whatever establishment/place of interest we were visiting, and they would be carrying on and making a fuss. It seems they were "Verdammt Amerikanisher" (danged Americans, loosely translated), and the locals didn't take too kindly to them. Texans were fine, but Americans? Too snooty and too much trouble.
It wasn't exactly and un-earned reputation, unfortunately.