While I'd bet there's more answers to that question (some of 'em even serious) than there are secret recipes for chili, I'll hazard a guess........
There's a strong culture here that respects the "can do" attitude- especially when it comes to working with your own two hands. Whether it's changing the oil in your truck, mowing your own lawn, fixin' the leaky faucet yourself- there's a lot of folks that could easily afford to have someone take care of these things for them, but prefer to do it themselves- may be more than just a touch of respect for honest sweat. Don't get me wrong, there's certainly plenty of folks who'd rather pay to get a hot, sweaty, dirty job done by someone else- but you don't see as many folk's looking down on "Blue Collar" and "tradesman" professions as I've seen in some other geographic areas. At any rate, seems to me there's a stronger atmosphere of respect for an honest days work, and working with your hands, than in some other places..... more emphasis put on character and honesty, than on the size of someone's house/checkbook/SUV. Please don't take what I'm saying wrong- to me, one of the most wonderful things about our great country is that you can find this same attitude/outlook everywhere, to one degree or another, and in large quantities everywere you find folks like those that frequent this forum, from Australia to the British Isles, North America and all points in between. But those of us lucky enough to live in Texas get to see that in a strong majority of the population- and should count that as one of our many blessings. I'll never consider myself to be an artist, but one of these days I hope to feel that I've earned the right to consider myself a craftsman- and that's something in these parts that comes with a lot of respect.
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