Texan Attitude, Dallas

6 Flags over Texas is an annual event for me. My company has it's picnic there.

This year was the newest ride "Superman".
It takes you to the top up 325 feet and drops you to the ground. :-)))

And you thought your feet hurt after walking an amusement park all day. :)

Living in Dallas you become aware of holidays that you never knew existed. Its like Texans go out of their way to find excuses to celebrate, have get-togethers and cook outs, and generally turn the town upside down. We celebrate a holiday that doesnt even belong to us: Cinco de Mayo, the day of Mexico's defeat of Napoleon's French Army in 1862. Its not uncommon to find entire blocks cordoned off from traffic in order to have a pub crawl, celebrate July 4th (example "Kaboom-town") or St. Patty's day. Its not like theres a big Irish population here! From balloon festivals to Octoberfest, if theres no celebration coming up, Dallas will create one (ie Edgefest in celebration of Earth Day?) Its not enough to go to a football game, you have to celebrate the fact that youre going to a football game and have a tail gate party. Listen to jazz? Yeah we have a festival for that too. Can I dress up like an old west outlaw and party? Yeah we call that Pioneer Days. How bout if I wanna celebrate how much I love sweet potatoes? Yep we got it covered, Texas Yamboree. Mark your calendars.

When I lived in Dallas there were mainly white people and hispanic people living close to me. Be courteous and say hello. Tip at restaurants if the service is good only. Don't use terminology that is derogatory to hispanics in the area or to the African Americans either for that matter. Treat people the way you want them to treat you, but be cautious at the same time.

Texas is a world unto its own.. and Dallas being part of Texas is no exception. Whatever you know about other parts of the US is not necessarily applied to Texas. Politeness is part of the southern hospitality however there are oddities that don't quite associate itself with that politeness. Take it as you find it.

Service is not always as great as you expect but the friendly greeting is always there. Anyone non-Texan is definitely an 'alien' but if your visit is short, then just enjoy the 'visitor' experience.

Dallas has become a melting pot over the last ten years or so. Seems like everyone is from somewhere else. Theres a whole lot of money out here. People like to flaunt their wealth and youll see more new cars than you can count. As far as customs are concerned, just be polite in all cases. Ex: If someone lets you change lanes in front of them, give a wave. I believe that everyone who skips this step is definately not from Texas and when a good deed goes unpaid (the wave gesture) in rush hour traffic during a 100 degree summer day........adds to the road rage just a tad.

Being caucasian, I have never had to deal with discrimination. Unfortunately, discrimination still pervades our society/generation as present generations of colored people whose forefathers have been in America for generations, still claim that the present "white" man must be held accountable for the sins of past "whites". Where in the Bible does GOD make this proclaimation? Didn't Jesus tell his followers to forgive trespasses? Only GOD can decide who can be held accountable for past inequities, and it is surely not the present generations!

There is hope, the youngest generation now entering the work place have been brought up in integrated environments and it is good to report that they do not think like the past generations.

Invision the song....'I can do anything you can do better...I can do anything better than you...'

This is my humble attempt..actually I am told I know more than most guys when it comes to cars...(scary..)

Texas is the only State that I know of where the State Department of Transportation has spent good money to put up trafic signs that say Drive Freindly. But they have a good reason. In Texas things are either Freindly or Unfreindly, and you don't want any part of the Unfreindly so make an effort to be nice. We do.