# I'm realizing Texas is different. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384 "2013-01-16T15:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/1 "2013-01-16T15:08:17Z")
Its the little things talking to people in the rest of the USA that show me Texas is a different kinda place. Anyone remember the mayor of Houston tactfully reminding Katrina refugees fresh off the bus that Houston was a “working” city? Yea. Like someone saying they have never been refused service at ERs no matter how silly their problem, try that in Houston sometime. \*No insurance, no money etc. Texas jails and prisons are notoriously harsh. People popping onto food stamps welfare during short job gaps, laughable my sister working as a waitress with two kids couldn’t qualify for assistance because she had a close to ten year old car, and dumping it would have meant no job at all. If you want to be punished for being poor and uninsured I advise a trip to Texas;) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/2 "2013-01-16T15:25:46Z")
Umm, have you been in a coma until recently? You just realized drama queens like drama (that was you right?), and now you just realized Texas is really another country in the bizzaro universe? Have you ever noticed that 9 months after having sex women have babies? Sorry to be all snarky, but you should get a promotion to Major Obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/3 "2013-01-16T15:33:17Z")
Really Thanks You have no idea what you are talking about **Capt** Houston,TX ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/4 "2013-01-16T15:42:45Z")
If you don’t love it, GTFO. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/5 "2013-01-16T15:45:50Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Really Thanks > > You have no idea what you are talking about > > **Capt** > > Houston,TX I knew you guys would show up, I’m from Houston actually. Not shocked that stuff like this happens in Texas though. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201\_162-57337766/mom-denied-food-stamps-shoots-kids-kills-self/](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57337766/mom-denied-food-stamps-shoots-kids-kills-self/) In Texas I’m like some whacko left wing nut, in the northern US I’m apparently some hard core right wing nut. Its funny. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/6 "2013-01-16T15:48:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Umm, have you been in a coma until recently? You just realized drama queens like drama (that was you right?), and now you just realized Texas is really another country in the bizzaro universe? Have you ever noticed that 9 months after having sex women have babies? Sorry to be all snarky, but you should get a promotion to Major Obvious. Heh its just I’ll be like I didn’t even want to call the cops to report a disturbance because they just turn on you ask to come inside and get hostile, fishing for something to charge you with. Everyone else thinks I’m nuts, cops don’t do that! Oh yea Texas moment. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/7 "2013-01-16T15:50:18Z")
Texas, especially Houston, responded with admirable generosity to all the evacuees from Katrina. If there were issues that came up while trying to absorb 150,000 suddenly homeless people, [this article](http://crime.about.com/od/issues/a/katrinacrime.htm) explains it far more honestly than your uninformed accusation. [Another](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5730181) from NPR. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/8 "2013-01-16T15:58:24Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Texas, especially Houston, responded with admirable generosity to all the evacuees from Katrina. If there were issues that came up while trying to absorb 150,000 suddenly homeless people, [this article](http://crime.about.com/od/issues/a/katrinacrime.htm) explains it far more honestly than your uninformed accusation. [Another](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5730181) from NPR. I"m talking about a comment mayor White made at a press conference when the first evacuees were arriving, there were certainly problems afterward but it was in poor taste and I’m from Houston and lived there at the time. This is the kinda bizarro world Texas stuff I’m talking about. > **[Texas Public Intoxication Laws Allow for Arrest Without Intoxication. Or Even...](https://reason.com/2010/02/26/texas-public-intoxication-laws/)** > > Various jurisdictions in Texas have made news over the last several years for sending vice squads into bars and arresting patrons for drinking. Not Texas very much enforces public intoxication laws with much enthusiasm. I’ve seen people in other states say you can’t get arrested for PI even if you’re fall down drunk. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/9 "2013-01-16T16:03:52Z")
Totally agree with the OP. The mayor of Houston said something kind of dumb therefore everyone in the entire state is a fucking retard and all police officers want to rape and murder you just for fun. That’s really what you want parroted back to you isn’t it OP? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/10 "2013-01-16T16:08:00Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Totally agree with the OP. The mayor of Houston said something kind of dumb therefore everyone in the entire state is a fucking retard and all police officers want to rape and murder you just for fun. > > That’s really what you want parroted back to you isn’t it OP? Yea sure, I surely wasn’t discussing in a light hearted way that Texas is well different from a lot of the rest of the USA in some ways, some annoying. Clearly I think everyone in Texas(including my family) are murderous cretins. God everyone here has giant sticks up their butts. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/11 "2013-01-16T16:10:37Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I"m talking about a comment mayor White made at a press conference when the first evacuees were arriving, there were certainly problems afterward but it was in poor taste and I’m from Houston and lived there at the time. No, he didn’t. He made that comment at a job fair one year after Katrina. > [@](#): > > It’s Houston, however, that has received the lion’s share of Katrina evacuees: 150,000 are still there. And while Texas has warmly welcomed this group, the stress over increased unemployment and crime is starting to be felt. > > Indeed, in Houston and other cities affected by the relocation, some officials are beginning to reassess the financial implications of their generosity over the past year. Their conclusion: The federal government should continue to support the state and municipalities where evacuee numbers remain high because many are still not on their feet almost a year after the storm > > \ > > Indeed, in Houston and other cities affected by the relocation, some officials are beginning to reassess the financial implications of their generosity over the past year. Their conclusion: The federal government should continue to support the state and municipalities where evacuee numbers remain high because many are still not on their feet almost a year after the storm.At a job fair in Houston last week, for instance, Mayor Bill White encouraged unemployed evacuees to get to work, pointing out that there are 5,000 positions open in the city. > > “We don’t believe in dependency in Houston. We’re a working city. It may not be the perfect job, but there are jobs available and people should take them,” said Mr. White, who has been a strong advocate for the evacuees. > > In the city, a disproportionate number of Katrina evacuees needed special care, such as health and social services. > > The Harris County Hospital District’s cost of treating the evacuees, for instance, is currently more than $7 million – only 33 percent of which had been reimbursed by the federal government as of mid-July. > > In addition, the federal Medicaid waivers were taken away at the end of June – so many evacuees are now without medical insurance altogether, leaving the county to cover the cost. [With bulk of Katrina evacuees, Texans begin to feel burden - A year after the hurricane, Houston complains about their persistent joblessness. State officials plea for federal help.](http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0822/p04s01-usec.html) There’s plenty of ammo to snark on Texas about if that’s what floats your boat, but Houston’s Katrina response isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/12 "2013-01-16T16:21:15Z")
No, just the Texans. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/13 "2013-01-16T16:21:54Z")
I don’t know anything about Texas of today. But in my younger days I hitch-hiked the entire state many times. I found the people that shared their vehicle with me to be very friendly, generous, and happy. Nothing but great memories in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/14 "2013-01-16T16:22:00Z")
> [@picker](#): > > No, just the Texans. Well, they’re out of the playoffs anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/15 "2013-01-16T16:51:22Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Like someone saying they have never been refused service at ERs no matter how silly their problem, try that in Houston sometime. \*No insurance, no money etc. Texas is bound by the same [EMTALA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMTALA) regulations as anywhere else in the USA. And what kind of idiot actually admits going to the ER with a “silly problem”? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/16 "2013-01-16T16:56:15Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Texas jails and prisons are notoriously harsh. Actually, within the business, it’s Louisiana that’s considered the worst. Or maybe Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/17 "2013-01-16T17:00:11Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Totally agree with the OP. The mayor of Houston said something kind of dumb therefore everyone in the entire state is a fucking retard and all police officers want to rape and murder you just for fun. Now, now. You’ve been a member of this board long enough to know that correlation does not imply causation. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/18 "2013-01-16T17:57:38Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Its the little things talking to people in the rest of the USA that show me Texas is a different kinda place. Anyone remember the mayor of Houston tactfully reminding Katrina refugees fresh off the bus that Houston was a “working” city? Yea. Well, I’m a native Houstonian and I remember the Katrina refugees that hit the ground immediately asking how to sign up for welfare. I also am aware that in the areas where FEMA located Katrina refugees, the crime rates went up significantly. That one thing forced me to relocate my place of business because I couldn’t get customers to come into the area, especially after there was a brutal, senseless murder right across the street. > [@](#): > > Like someone saying they have never been refused service at ERs no matter how silly their problem, try that in Houston sometime. \*No insurance, no money etc. > > …snip… > If you want to be punished for being poor and uninsured I advise a trip to Texas;) Your statement is basically bullshit. Under Texas law, hospital ERs cannot refuse to treat emergency cases. I’ll grant that they move you to Ben Taub or John Sealy as quickly as possible, but they will treat you. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/19 "2013-01-16T18:04:09Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I knew you guys would show up, I’m from Houston actually. > > Not shocked that stuff like this happens in Texas though. > > [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201\_162-57337766/mom-denied-food-stamps-shoots-kids-kills-self/](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57337766/mom-denied-food-stamps-shoots-kids-kills-self/) > > In Texas I’m like some whacko left wing nut, in the northern US I’m apparently some hard core right wing nut. Its funny. Well, from that post, I can see why Texans might think you’re a whacko left wing nut. You certainly follow the left-wing guidelines for blaming an entire group of people for the actions of one deranged individual. If you had bothered to read the article you quoted, you would have seen that the folks at the food stamp program were actively trying to help the woman: > [@](#): > > Baeza said Grimmer had recently moved to the border city from Ohio. > > Grimmer first applied for food stamps in July but was denied **because she didn’t turn in enough information** , Goodman said. She said it wasn’t immediately clear what information was missing. > > “We were still waiting, and if we had that, I don’t know if she would still qualify or not,” Goodman said. > > **Goodman didn’t know whether Grimmer had a job, or whether her children were covered under Medicaid or the state children’s health insurance program.** So the whackjob woman doesn’t give the people enough information to help her, then shoots herself and her kids…and somehow, that is the fault of the state of Texas. Uh, huh, you betcha, bucky. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384/20 "2013-01-16T18:06:57Z")
I think the OP is all hat and no cattle. (as they say in Texas) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-realizing-texas-is-different/647384.md?page=2)