It disturbs me sometimes how we Texans tend to equate state borders with distance. For the most part, except for those on the very outer edges of the state, anything beyond the border of Texas is insanely far. Within the borders might be “quite a ways,” but nothing too shocking.
This thought process is not without merit. When you’re in a place like Austin, it’s a long damn drive just to get outside of Texas, no matter which direction you head. But this week, as I’ve been down from Missouri, attending the State Bar of Texas Annual meeting, it’s really hit home how skewed that sort of thinking really is. Over and over I met people at the meeting who were genuinely shocked that I’d come “all the way from Missouri.” Even though they understood that I was licensed in Texas and needed my CLE, it was the idea of traveling such a distance that seemed most surprising to them.
Granted, Kansas City’s a bigger jump than Oklahoma City, but let’s be realistic. It’s 440-some odd miles from the Metroplex to Kansas City. At this same convention there were lawyers in from all over Texas. Down in The Valley, up in Amarillo, and out in El Paso. While it was acknowledged that they had a long drive, no one seemed shocked that they would travel so far….despite the fact that the folks from El Paso? Yeah, they came over 100 miles further to get there than I did.
Apparently, distance isn’t miles, it’s when you cross over into another state. Who knew?
