My family and I took a trip a year or two ago to a town out in West Texas. Being the classic tourists, we went into all the little shops and antique stores, when clumsy ol’ me fell over something embedded in the sidewalk. As shocked as I was, I looked down at my hands and on my palms, little spots of blood started to form. I got up with my parents’ assistance and stared down at the ground in disbelief. It was a star, but not just a normal star, it was a TEXAS star. A. TEXAS. STAR. My unfortunate fall led me to believe that number one: Texas was full of itself. 

     I started to see stars everywhere. On the sides of freeways, the walls of overpasses, oh excuse me, “fly overs,” on fronts of houses and even at a store at the mall that sells nothing but stars. I guess that’s why they call it the Lone Star State.

     I have lived in Texas for about four years now and there is a ton of things, I’m fixin’ to tell ya starting with number two. “To fix” is an actual verb. I was born and raised in California, and when I got here I honestly didn’t know what to say. But I shortly learned my third thing. Students don’t actually ride to school on horses. It amazed me and I was so intrigued. I literally thought I would see tumble weeds roll along the dusty, cracked land like in those old western movies. 

     I will give Texas credit though. Number four: The school system here is 200 percent better than California’s. I learn so much more here and teachers get paid a lot less in California than they do here. As a middle school science and math teacher in California, my cousin has 37 students in her largest class. With that number of students, there is no possible way she can help every one of them through the things they don’t understand. I can barely understand, let alone hear the teacher with 25 kids in my classes. I can’t even imagine 37 kids in my class.      

     However, number five, the way the school spends its money most definitely should be addressed.  The new 10,000 seat stadium costs $18.5 million dollars when there is another 10,000 or more seat stadium that is literally two miles away. Why can’t we just use that stadium? I mean I know its part of another school district, but can’t there be compromise for every other week?  That $18.5 million dollars could be used for better and more productive purposes.

     What I am also fascinated by is the huge numbers of animal carcasses that litter the sides of the road. Number six: Is there not a road-kill-pick-up-crew? And no, the turkey vultures don’t count. Number seven, It’s hard to tell children that the animals “are just sleeping, they’re not dead.” Trust me; I’ve had to do it before. I don’t see how hunting these beautiful animals is fun either. You might as well pick one up on the side of the road and call it a day. These hunters, these killers only have to do three simple things: sprinkle some deer food, climb up in the blind, conveniently bought at the local grocery store, and shoot the poor animal’s brains out. They then chop their head off and plaster it on their wall like a prized possession. Number eight: killing is not something to be proud of. They stare you down too, the deer heads, they make you feel guilty, their eyes darting deep down into your soul.

     I’m sure everyone will agree with me on number nine. Texas has the most bi-polar weather in the nation. You can have all four seasons in one day, no joke. Though when we aren’t having all seasons packed into one day, it’s actually a very nice day. I love the spring here. All the flowers start to bloom and the trees regain their life. It’s beautiful, and the weather is perfect. Summer is a whole different story. It is nasty and humid and just plain gross. I hate the summer here. It’s just horrible. Fall, is not so bad. Some of the trees turn red and orange, it’s beautiful. I love driving down Brushy Creek Road toward Round Rock during the fall. Winter is not my favorite, but it’ll do. Everything looks dead in the winter and you skin and lips get all cracked and chapped, and it’s just not pleasant. The cold doesn’t really bother me because you can just put on another jacket, unlike the summertime when there is a limit to how many clothing items you can take off.

                Lastly, number ten, Texans are horrible drivers. Ok, maybe not every Texan, but a very large percentage is. I’m afraid to learn to drive here. My mom has gotten into so many almost-accidents from people being ignorant and impatient. When you try to back out of a parking space, drivers speed right past you while you slam on the breaks. The traffic here doesn’t even compare to L.A. and you can ask my dad, and probably your dad too, who sits for 45 minutes every day on the Mo-Pac or Loop 1. It is so dangerous to drive here, just by seeing my mom try to avoid accidents daily.

                So, there are my 10 things. Most of them are, I’ll admit negative, but hey, I didn’t choose to live here.