[chiph]

Even in Texas, you have to be careful when the boom ends. I was in Midland/Odessa about 10-12 years ago (before the current oil boom) and it was a tough place to live - lots of closed businesses. The drilling firms had stacks of pipe in their yards, instead of out in the oil fields being put to use.

The folks who lived there were really down on their city, something you don't see all that often in Texas (how do you know someone's a Texan? Don't worry, they'll tell you). That was hard to deal with in conversation with them - they still had lots of advantages, but they wouldn't see them.

[vonmoltke]

You have to be careful where you are when the boom ends. Dallas weaned itself off oil money in the late 80s/early 90s; ExxonMobil's headquarters is the only major holdout. It turned itself into a headquarters town, and is now turning itself into America's datacenter and a minor tech hub. Austin has entrenched itself as a second-tier tech hub. San Antonio is a major Air Force tech hub. Houston, while awash in oil money, has non-oil shipping, finance, and NASA. Only west Texas is so dependent on oil that an oil bust would be a major economic calamity.

[mcdougle]

> how do you know someone's a Texan? Don't worry, they'll tell you

I never noticed this before, but I'm a Texan, and I do this.

[nutjob123]

Same joke also works for new yorkers

[jrs235]

As well as lawyers, crossfitters, and vegetarians.

[monknomo]

I've always heard it with pilots

[Graham24]

Yorkshire