Even though Texans stumble over the resource which could aid in their prosperity, they still act in optimism. The rest of the American states should use humor like the Texans. During a summer a couple years ago I acted like a Texan, however, I live in Northern Ohio, I was helping move a piano off the stage. We lifted it up and set it down, the majority let go to rid chances of hurting their fingers.
Well I saw that they all pulled out so I kept my hands underneath to settle the piano to the floor with whatever strength I had. My right hand was crushed; I picked up the piano with my other hand and got my right hand out. When seeing it, I could tell that my fingers were lucky. The blood was just surfacing in the wounds on each of my fingers. But I wanted to control feelings as example to others so I said, “man, I have to stop dropping pianos on myself before it's too late!” It was funny because I was bleeding everywhere, and still laughing. Texans vary from people from other states in their attitudes and the tools they use during uncomfortable times, and people of other states use pessimism while flourishing, while Texans use optimism even when caught during starvation.
Texans go through long, hard times during seasonal droughts. People die and lose loved ones. They suffer from fatigue, starvation, and still everyone focuses on the traditional attitude for drought season: a positive attitude. Attitude constitutes Texans, will to survive, while the other states jump to negative irritability over simple comfort interrupting stimuli.
The other states of America ponder the things that simply irritate them. The things that irritate them include minuscule details in life like cleaning their room or house, washing the car, or even mowing the lawn. When I was a boy, my mom asked me, “Devin, can you pick up that piece of dirt over there?” “Sure,” I'd reply, but if she asked me to pick up another one I would get irritable and be tempted to rebel in a negative attitude.
People in Texas generally use humor to project their optimism. The “Texas Dry Humor” article in the Readers Digest cited an exquisite example telling about how there was a tourist who was venturing through Texas and stopped to ask a native if it ever had rained there. “Yep, it has, you've heard about Noah's Ark, when it rained for 40 days and 40 nights? Well, sir we got about an inch and a half that time.”(Chenoweth and Kelton 71)
People dwelling in other American states like to focus their pessimism into sarcasm. They stop appreciating the happiness of others and their demeaning manner sarcastically diminishes others. A good example is of my sister Becky, when I was around 7 or 8 years old, I prepared a nice basket of flowers for my mom. It took me an hour to find the flowers and make it in the way that it would appear best in my mother's eyes. I started handing it over to show my mom, but my pinky toe hit the leg of the table causing the basket to slip from my grasp, scattering the flowers all over the floor. My sister says, “Well that was real smart.” Of course I went on to get really mad. It is just sad that I was in a happily creative mood before she made that remark.
The Texans set a fine example to the attitude we all should live by. Avoiding sarcasm and grasping dry humor as a tool rather than a weapon is the moral of the story, to add value to the situation by staying positive. Although that tool can leave Texans non-resourceful, sometimes is still adds value to the lives of others. If all the states could grasp the tool of optimism and humor, then there would be prosperity in the people as well as in the land.
