Things you may think about Texas, but they ain’t true

LUBBOCK, Texas— The Lone Star state has seen a large population growth in the past year – increasing by 470,708 in 2022, according to Census.gov. When non-residents think of Texas, it usually brings to mind horses, guns, cowboys and belt buckles. 

A YouTube video, titled “Moving to Texas,” by Dana Pollard said one misconception is that “we all carry guns and aren’t afraid to use them.”

Pollard said in the video, “Texas is scary to some people.”

An iconic movie from the 2000s, “Miss Congeniality,” quoted a relatable theory on Texas and its guns.

“Of course he had a gun. This is Texas. Everybody has a gun. My florist has a gun!” said Candice Bergan as Kathy Morningside in the movie.

Not all, but many Texans do have guns. An article from texascapital.org stated there were an estimated 22.3 million guns in Texas in 2018. According to the Texas Tribune, quoting the Rand Corporation, 36% of Texas adults lived in a home with a firearm as of 2016.

In Pollard’s YouTube video, she also mentioned, “Not everybody wears cowboy hats and boots, however, it is socially acceptable to wear a cowboy hat and cowboy boots in Texas.”

Through a social media post, EverythingLubbock.com reached out to its viewers for more “misconceptions about Texas” and learned that some out-of-state residents really did think that all Texans “ride horses everywhere and don’t own cars.”

“When I came to Texas in 1976 from Florida,” a viewer said, “my [biggest misconception] was everyone wore cowboy hats, and everyone rode a horse and lived on many acres of land.”

The viewer also stated that he was surprised to “not see horses riding all over town,” and another expressed disappointment in the lack of horses.

Many of the viewers who are Texas natives stated the misconception was not true. 

“We do NOT ride everywhere on a horse,” a native Texan commented.

Every once in a while, it does happen. In 2016, social media pictures depicted two people on horseback in the Starbucks drive thru in Lubbock.

An employee at EverythingLubbock.com, who was born and raised in California, expressed, “I thought tumbleweeds were only in cartoons until I moved to Lubbock.”

An article from thetravel.com stated that when a relative who grew up in Ohio moved to Texas in the ’80s, “She was expecting tumbleweeds and cacti straight out of a spaghetti Western.”

Another viewer said that her cousins from California had visited and thought “We all wore boots and hats and had big ranches. They expected to see life like the Ft. Worth Stockyards.”

The mention of California brought up another misconception about most Texans: “[That] we hate Californians.”

EverythingLubbock.com reached out to California residents and can confirm that it is true, however, Pollard debunked the misconception in her video. 

“Texans don’t hate Californians…Texas don’t want to become California,” said Pollard.

There’s a saying that she also mentioned, “Don’t California my Texas,” and that was because, “Texans love their Texas.” 

A few other misconceptions that were stated were the famous “Texas twang” and “speaking with a strong country accent.” 

An EverythingLubbock.com viewer had expressed that when he goes out of state “People always tell me to say something in Texan. Like it’s different from English.”

While some residents are unaware of the dust and crazy wind blowing through the air, it is a norm in the South Plains. 

“Didn’t know about the winds at all. The Santa Ana winds got nothing on West Texas,” said a viewer.

In his song “My Texas,” country singer Josh Abbott proudly sings, “You say you haven’t hiked through Big Bend, had your hair blown back by a Lubbock wind, Been somewhere where they call you ‘friend,’ Then you ain’t met My Texas yet.”