And I don't mean that bitchy...

STEP back! *snaps* Regular Fuzzbuckets know that I am not shy about expressing my opinions. Ever. Interestingly enough, though, I've never written any sort of "letter to the editor"....until last week.

Kyrie O'Connor is deputy managing editor/features at the Houston Chronicle. She writes a "cultural blog" (her words) that I read on a fairly regular basis, it's called MeMo. Last week O'Connor posted about something she calls "Texas Rude". At first, O'Connor was seemingly complimentary...

Texas manners are nigh breathtaking to those not accustomed to the highly seductive combination of Southern politesse and Western informality . . . [They make] you begin to believe that this is a better way to live.

But then the claws came out:

[U]ntil you encounter what I’ve come to think of as Texas Rude, which is rudeness that masquerades as politeness.

Speaking of herself in the third person, O'Connor declares:

[MeMo] is whining about passive-aggressive repairmen who don’t show up, people who call bitchiness “constructive criticism,” men who talk over women – in short, people who can’t even stab you in the front in the great tradition of New Jersey, a state where no mother ever made the mistake of cautioning her child, “be sweet.”

She ends with this fairly snotty remark: Really, own your anger, Texas.

I got all het up over this post and so I quickly wrote an email to O'Connor to express my very own Texan anger. Re-reading what I wrote, I wish that I had taken more time to really gather my thoughts, but apparently I made an impression on Madame Editor. Yesterday's post on MeMo was entitled The masses respond to Texas Rude. A good chunk of my e-mail was included in her post! I was quite proud of myself. I have to give O'Connor snaps for acknowledging the effect that her post had on her readers. Anyway here the part of my response that was included in her post:

I'm owning it, Ms. O'Connor, believe me. Look, I am a sixth gen Texan. My great-great-great grandfather fought in the Battle of San Jacinto and my grandfather was the Speaker of the House. I am so proud to live here, I can't tell you. Having said that, there are a lot of problems in this state, and I am angry about them. I'm also working to fix them. I volunteer at the Houston Area Women's Center, Habitat for Humanity, and others. I don't just sit around on my computer and smugly lecture people about the ills of Texas. I'm sure that wherever you came from was just fabulous, and you should be proud, but try to remember that you live here now, and it wouldn't hurt you to be a little more supportive of your adopted state. If you don't like the so-called "Texas Rude," then speak out in a more constructive manner. Do something instead of just writing about it. Unless you already do, in which case kudos to you.

Again, I really do enjoy your blog most of the time. But I do see leanings of "Yankee superiority" in your writing, and it just makes me roll my eyes and move on. This whole red state vs. blue state is just pathetic. We all live in the same country, and things are never going to get any better if we keep acting so divisive!

Looking back, there are a lot of things that I wish I had included in my letter, but I guess hindsight is always 20/20, right? Ah well. Anyway I think I did pretty well for my first letter to the editor.

P.S. The title of this post is an homage to Cecile...I wonder if she can guess where I got it? :)

Comments

[Bombadil]

Ah...moonlighting on somebody else's blog. No wonder we only get like 2 posts a week around here.

Shame, Shame

[Tracy]

Unfortunately I have been so tired lately that I haven't been able to think of anything interesting to post about...