| Apr 28, 2007 @ 5:31 AM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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Midnight975
Posts: 8
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I grew up in West and Central Texas. That being said, I have a few 'old fashioned' ideas about how to conduct oneself in public. I don't believe that makes me a stick-in-the-mud, it means I have a MIND.
Anyway, I routinely encounter mindlessness out here in 'Deep East Texas'. Being a non-native sort of guy, this should come as no surprise. But seriously, folks, what is the deal with the mindsets, attitudes, and ritualistic dog farts of some people in this area?
I am referring to the Nacogdoches, Lufkin, general area of the state. I have seen Klan rallies on the steps of a college building. I have seen highspeed chases on motorcycles. I have seen fights over bottled water when Rita hit the town. What the hell is it about this place? The trees? Is it a melting pot being so close to Houston in one direction, and Lousiana, in the other? College town mixed with ancientness? What the hell is going on?
I have gotten to the point where I simply cannot stand to even deal with people here. I just do my own thing, and keep my head down, eyes open, and all that.
What a mind job... 
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| Apr 30, 2007 @ 4:57 PM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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lj450
Posts: 9,551
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You arent on the verge of killing a bunch of people.........are ya?
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| Apr 30, 2007 @ 6:13 PM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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palehorse
Posts: 105
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Where have you been living that ther are not rallies/marches, fighting over stupid crap & high speed chases?? LOL!
I don't like the DFW area much,...but thats because I love the Hill-country & Mountains,....not because the people here are any more back-woods, preppy or "gangsta" than any where else.
There is nothing wrong with clan rallies when there are black-panther, naacp, the mexican restoration groups (basicly anti-american) and lulac rallies. Not to mention gay rallies, anti-gay rallies etc, etc.
Fighting over water,....well,..if there is none to be had and its either you or my daughter getting the bottle,...I'll be kicking your ass post-haste for it. Water is a very valuable commodity that most "New" and "Import" Texans don't seem to understand with their "Green lawns of summer" and huge swimming pools. I'd like to see how they would be using their water when the creek they came across to refill their canteens at went dry.
You sure you're not just trying to find something to complain about? Iknow different places have their own particularities, but thats why people like living in different places. They are not neccesarily bad,..just different. Try to find the good with the bad...even if the goods are small.
Best wishes to you,...
~R
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| Apr 30, 2007 @ 7:00 PM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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countrysimple
Posts: 14
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If you hate it there that bad I am sure one of the local Ole boys would be happy to tell you the shortest way out of town.
If I didn't like where I lived I would be moving.
There are good and bad folks everywhere you can find them in any town.
I agree with palehorse on the water thing.
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| Apr 30, 2007 @ 7:55 PM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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TRAVIS1946
Posts: 82
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Just another Texas hater.
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| Apr 30, 2007 @ 11:01 PM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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palehorse
Posts: 105
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Nah Travis, he's not a hater,..I think he just has culture shock. That happens sometimes.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 12:44 AM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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Catwoman06
Posts: 1
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Just my luck! I'm transferring to SFA in Nac next semester. I'm originally from the Houston area but i'm in colorado now. It should be an interesting change! :-)
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| May 1, 2007 @ 4:48 AM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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Midnight975
Posts: 8
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I'm a native Texan, thanks. Hating Texas would make the same amount of sense as posting a personal ad for finding true love from a dinner plate. I would rather live at home, in Texas, than most places on Earth. My pride runs deeper than my sanity on some issues. That being said...
I have no ill will for anyone, I just am overwhelmed by the....madness in THIS AREA.
I suppose it has partway to do with being close to a border of another state, a state that has recently been turned upside down (Katrina). When the refugees hit this town, it was something that was very hard for me to see and deal with. On the campus here, I met many people who had lost everything they own and it was heart wrenching. I will never forget this one man and his wife, who lived in their Yukon. They had lost a horse stable, their home, boats, and all that, and were living on FEMA's help, from inside their SUV. It was really sobering. Other people who came here from that insanity were rapists, burglars, crazy people, who have caused no small amount of chaos in this sleepy little Piny Woods location.
Then, we got RITA, and this town was slapped upside the head again. I myself had no power for nearly 15 days, and some of the college-age people here went, in a word, batshat insane. They had no idea what to do without power. Fortunately for myself, I grew up in the sticks, and weathered it fine but what I saw of my fellow man during these periods was nothing short of "where the HELL am I, Los Angeles?"
There were people fighting over water during the Boiling Ordnance. They had heavily armed DPS at Wal-Mart here, with pallets in front of the doors, to keep people from looting the shelves. Gas pumps had armed DPS and cones, lines for miles, to get gas, because people were trying to drive by rob the pumps. It was absolutely the most shocking months of my life as an adult.
Back home (I am from San Angelo), people are, in a word, not as crazy.
My comments were meant mostly as sarcasm, attempting to approach the subject from a desire to understand, but from a complete resignation that this area is just strange.
Culture shock is the best way to answer it I guess. I like the place, I just am frightened at times by the people. I am a tall guy, and never really used to have to look over my shoulder when walking at night. Here, that's unsane. 
I meant no offense to anyone, and if I did, well, evolve.
As for the comment "If I didn't like it there I would move", well, there's this neat little concept called 'Real Life' that doesn't always play by the rules we set for ourselves, or it. Rest assured, that is my goal, nonetheless.
[Edited on 5/1/2007 4:54 AM]
[Edited on 5/1/2007 4:56 AM]
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| May 1, 2007 @ 8:43 AM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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TRAVIS1946
Posts: 82
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Try Houston, I don't leave my apartment unarmed. It would be easier to deal with the Klan than MS-13. I gave my youngest son my 12 gauge combat shotgun so he can defend his wife and his mom. The Katy area is a little better than my area,
Have been to Lufkin a number of times photographing weddings and never a bit of trouble.
Catwoman, Stephen F. Austin is a fine University. Stay in the better neighborhoods and you will be fine. A former employer and friend used to teach photography there. Good luck in photography, however, it is a tough way to make a living.
[Edited on 5/1/2007 8:50 AM]
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| May 1, 2007 @ 8:52 AM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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lj450
Posts: 9,551
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It sounds like most of your issues are concerning the hurricane situations, victims, etc. Not the area itself.
Im quite sure your quaint little view of San Angelo would change drastically if similar circumstances hit that area. Ive lived in East Texas most of my life. There are some good people (some trash and unmentionables as well) here, I guess its all how you look at it and what you look for.
Dont hold East Texas accountable for what mother nature did. Thats just assinine.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 7:51 PM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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mjdoves
Posts: 1
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Now this is only my point of view from what I have read.
I can see where he is coming on the insanity part.
But stop to think from where all of the insanity came from. The New Orleans area was built with and around the culture of the native culture of the tribes of slaves that where brought to America by our ancestors. Check for your self. New Orleans was built around a culture that was and still to some point into VooDoo and the black arts.
So what else to you thank you are going to get from someone other than acting like someone not in their right mind.
Things like storms, wars are what ever happens anywhere in the world will bring out the good or bad in a person. How that persons reacts depends on a lot of things. How they were raised, the culture that they grew up in makes and says a lot about a persons actions.
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| May 1, 2007 @ 8:00 PM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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casey81670
Posts: 4
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Midnight975, just come on back to "West Texas" (the real Texas) and it will all go away...you know I am right.
C'mon back and I'll buy you a beer. 
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| May 1, 2007 @ 8:27 PM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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Midnight975
Posts: 8
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LOL @ casey.
I intend to move soon.
As for the area itself, I am afraid that it wasn't merely the storms. There's just something....stuck in time about this area. People are...I honestly don't have a rounded term for it: Archaic, comes to mind, and not the hometown kind, or the simple lifestyle variety, but ancient mindsets, like about how to treat your fellow man.
I will capitulate about the storms influencing my questions, but the responses I am seeing range from the wise, to the defensive. There really is no reason to become defensive.
My hometown has had its share of crazy things happen, but the sheer volume compared to this has left me shellshocked, as that one poster from Ft. Worth mentioned.
I simply have had a bad run with the place I guess. I DO love the countryside, it reminds me of a werewolf movie or something. But the garbage (on the ground) the neighborhoods being so close together, often diametrically opposed by quality of life is only a rock toss away from you, and the basic attitudes of the people I have encountered, all have just left a sour taste in my mouth.
Again, just observing, and trying to understand it all, as that is my nature.
As for the Silver-tongued Casanova (yawn) with 3k+ posts who had the most aggressive response, I am not you. Anyone who has that many posts on a site like this is best left out of my day. I mean really. Get a hobby.
Anyhoo, thats my peace on it all. Thanks for the insights, and the laughs and wisdom.
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| May 2, 2007 @ 3:42 PM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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organizedmayhem
Posts: 7
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Here here Mr. Midnight! And people always ask me why I don't date the locals...
But in all fairness, my vast internet travels have taught me that bigoted rednecks with no social skills or English language abilities do exist nearly everywhere...
Yep... seems most states have there own deep east Texas residents, lol.
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| May 3, 2007 @ 1:12 AM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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TRAVIS1946
Posts: 82
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For the most part, Lufkin is a very nice town with a large number of educated, sophistocated people. Every town or city has a trashy section where the uneducated live and congregate.
By the way, red neck, in its original meaning, discribed the working class. These people often worked outside therefore had sunburned, or red necks. In general, red necks are the salt of the earth and are the backbone of this country. Without them, the rich would have nothing. So, to use the term Red Neck in a derogatory manner is an insult to all working people in the United States.
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| May 3, 2007 @ 2:39 AM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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horsesence
Posts: 3
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what you and your friends got was a taste of real life.it is not alwas a good time to be had by all. no matter were you go it will be waiting there for you. differnt place deffernt levels of life.lived in east texas 15 years and 13 in houston. still just differnt levels of life.
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| May 3, 2007 @ 8:33 AM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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Midnight975
Posts: 8
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| May 3, 2007 @ 10:47 AM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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organizedmayhem
Posts: 7
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oops, didn't mean to step on any toes... my apologies. Guess I'm used to hearing the name "redneck" associated more with a mentality than an occupation.
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| May 3, 2007 @ 6:00 PM |
"East Texas Insanity"
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lj450
Posts: 9,551
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Maybe you should move back to west texas and support that child of yours, rather than trying to make a living selling bootlegged, homemade, internet, synthesizer "music" on the streets of Lufkin.
The hard-working people of east Texas can spot a loafing freeloader a mile away. Most often they make them feel uneasy.
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| May 4, 2007 @ 12:25 AM |
"East Texas Insanity" |
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TRAVIS1946
Posts: 82
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In my work, I have to associate with the upper crust of society, photographing society weddings and parties. Quite a few of these people are extremely nice and down to earth. Too many of them are not worth spit. I would rather be around "Red-Necks" anyday.
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