This funny little exchange between Peter Kirk, ElShaddai Edwards and me reminded me of something humorous I noticed when I was in Israel. In August of 2007, my wife and I went to Israel with a group from our church. One predictable question frequently asked of tourists is, "Where are you from?" The standard response was to say, "Spain," "Canada," "the United States," or some other such country of origin.
However, everyone in our group always answered by saying, "Texas."
It didn't seem to come as any surprise to anyone asking. And almost to a person, they would respond, "So you ride horses?"
"Yes, I tied mine to the parking meter at the Western Wall," I would say. I'm kidding, I wouldn't really say that. But they really did ask? One cab driver in particular seemed especially dismayed that we didn't own a single horse.
Do any other Americans identify so principally with their state. New Yorkers, Illini, Rhode Islanders? Or is it just Texans.
By the way, I spent several weeks leading up to our trip learning conversational Hebrew, and I only got to speak Hebrew once. In fact, I spoke Spanish more than Hebrew because we met a group from Spain at one of the hotels. Apparently, my Tex-Mex is very close to their Castilian.
And to think, I spent all that time learning Hebrew so I could get it right when I asked, "Where can I park my horse?"