Response: It's okay to be Okie!
By a strange quirk of fate, the very CD that Saint and Bunky have brilliantly skewered showed up in the cataloging department on Monday. Apparently, there's a group of folks eager to listen to Jimmy and Vince wax poetic about our state. Unfortunately, the thing isn't in the OCLC database. One of us lucky worker bees will have to do some original cataloging.
Eager to experience the song for myself, I gave it a listen. Maybe it's just me, but to a transplanted Texan, the thing tries too hard. Can it really be that difficult to convince Okies that it's okay to love themselves?
This isn't a problem for our neighbors to the South. Those of us lucky enough to have been born in Texas were spoon-fed from a jar of homegrown pride. We grow up thinking we are pretty darn near amazing. Heck, we're fantastic! I know there's a love/hate relationship between our two states, but seriously, Okies spend way too much time thinking about why they're just as good as Texans (or anybody else, for that matter). Texans, however, don't spend anytime thinking about Oklahoma, except, perhaps, during the OU/Texas weekend each fall.
Both my boys were born in Oklahoma, so I've got a stake in making sure they don't feel so insecure about the place. They're conflicted about the fact that the state was came about after yet another broken promise to the Native Americans. The whole boomer/sooner thing is weird for them, too. How do you teach kids to abide by rules and avoid cheating when the very ground they're standing on was conquered by fellows who jumped the gun during the Land Rush of 1889?
Every year, when the elementary school has a celebration of the Oklahoma land run, I grudgingly dress my boys up as cowboys, but I also tell them that, while it was a happy day for white Americans, it wasn't so great for the Indians. And, lest you think I'm OK-bashing, rest assured I also teach them that history is written by the victors, and that every historical occurence has a different point of view, depending on who's doing the telling.
The longer I live in Oklahoma, the more I come to love it. I'm glad that our kids are a little bit humble. I'm glad we've got some elbow room. I love the sunsets, the storms, and tornadoes. I have come to embrace the state's famous offspring, like Woody Guthrie, Will Rogers, Wiley Post, John Steinbeck, even Garth Brooks! I love how people give a little wave when they pass you on a suburban street. I like that a man will still hold the grocery store door open for a woman, and that you can leave a ball or a bike on the front lawn and it will still be there in the morning. I love how the wind scours the neighborhood, sweeping leaves into the street like an unruly crowd of marathon runners. I like reading quirky messages on the kiosks of corner churches. I like having friends who'll give up a Saturday to help someone out. I like that most of us are decent, compassionate, patient, and polite.
So, there's plenty of good things to say about Oklahoma. Hate to say it, but the next state song should probably be written by a Texan!
Labels: boomer, humility, Oklahoma, pride, sooner, state songs, Texas
posted by Adjective Queen @ 1:10 AM,
1 Comments:
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At Wednesday, November 01, 2006 2:42:00 PM,
St. Fiacre said...
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I'm a little teary-eyed, Queen. Great work! And you're right - if we'd just listen to our real state song: we belong to the land and the land we belong to is grand.
I really love the marathon-runner metaphor. Is a new title in the offing? Mighty Mistress of the Metaphor? Magnificent Metaphpor Maker. Oh, wait! Damn. Was that a simile?
