(Image of the Texas state flag courtesy of Texas State Archives and Library Commission)
Texas has a reputation of great pride. We Texans are just so excited about our home state that we just can't contain ourselves sometimes. Many of us don't mean to intimidate, but we're devoted to truth and let our excitement get to us sometimes.
Sometimes the Lone Star State and Texans are misunderstood. Besides, while some of us are certifiably crazy, show us a state, country, or group that doesn't have nutty folks themselves.
What some people don't realize is that Texans, for the most part, are friendly folks. We certainly have our passions, but ultimately, we care about others. In his 2018 book God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State, Lawrence Wright certainly goes deep in to all of the state's quirks and eccentricities, but he spotlights the goodness as well. Wright, for example, explains how two of his friends -- NPR southwest correspondent John Burnett and KUT radio station manager Hawk Mendenhall -- were cycling around Texas in order to raise money for bikes and books for kids in Kenya. They stopped to eat somewhere when a bunch of gruff cowboys noticed Burnett and Mendenhall, "two gray-haired men in garish Spandex outfits like aging Spider-Men." One of them asked what they were doing, and after the cowboy learned, he put a $20 bill in Burnett's pocket and said, "Give this to them kids in Africa." Such a kind gesture shouldn't surprise anyone if they know that friendliness runs deep in the state.
Pride and friendliness aren't mutually exclusive; they coexist in Texas. As Texas Monthly explains, this comes across by "[b]eing glad to see you—no matter who you are—is something our mamas taught us from birth. The wide smile, the firm handshake, the slap on the back—it's the way Texans meet the world, the social grease that makes living here so pleasant and easy."
Here's a fun fact. According to the Texas State Historical Association, the origin of the name Texas goes back to the Hasinais people who lived in East Texas before the Spaniards arrived. The word in their language that Texas evolved from meant friend/ally to the Hasinais. Thus, "the name Texas, the state motto, 'Friendship,' carries the original meaning of the word as used by the Hasinai and their allied tribes, and the name of the state apparently was derived from the same source."
When it comes to Buc-ee's and H-E-B, both companies treat their employees well. That makes them even more likely to extend that Texan friendliness to customers. Given how both companies have rabid cult followings, we know well that is true.
We here at Texas Snax are trying our darndest to be all y'all's best friends. We're here to help y'all by helping sate hankerings for Buc-ee's bestsellers and H-E-B favorites. So, give us a holler, and we'll send y'all a bit of heaven.