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Old 03-18-2009, 12:20 PM
 
Location: Albuquerque
2,296 posts, read 6,286,327 times
Reputation: 1114

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I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico but was raised in Midland in the 70s and 80s. My background is well to do but I'm not in to all that money and status stuff.
Yesterday I got in to it with an older co worker who is older who since the day I started work has implied that I am trashy. I couldn't take it anymore and played the Midland card. Turns out her son lives in Odessa it even went to "right town/ wrong town", that whole thing. I enjoyed the moment and liked bringing her down a little I must admit. She today has implied that I am not telling the truth and sadly, I am.

Why is it that the whole Midland mentality pushes some buttons, especially with people who are familiar with the area?
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Old 03-18-2009, 02:31 PM
 
Location: SW France
16,672 posts, read 17,440,619 times
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Okay, so I'm a Brit but have lived in TX, and have no idea what this Midland thing is.
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Old 03-18-2009, 03:03 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in Texas
5,406 posts, read 13,280,126 times
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I've lived in Texas for 30 years and I don't know what the "Midland thing" is.
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Old 03-18-2009, 03:39 PM
 
3,309 posts, read 5,774,935 times
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Are you implying old money? Oil money? Or just plain money, honey.

Cathy, what is the Midland card? Old money? new rich? oil money, status being? Do you know? I've never heard of it although in every town you have your more established families, town fathers, etc. old money, etc. Hmmm, got me stumped!

Last edited by lonestar2007; 03-18-2009 at 03:48 PM..
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Old 03-18-2009, 04:52 PM
 
Location: Where I live.
9,191 posts, read 21,880,172 times
Reputation: 4934
Quote:
Originally Posted by lonestar2007 View Post
Are you implying old money? Oil money? Or just plain money, honey.

Cathy, what is the Midland card? Old money? new rich? oil money, status being? Do you know? I've never heard of it although in every town you have your more established families, town fathers, etc. old money, etc. Hmmm, got me stumped!
As I saw it when I lived there, it is old money, new rich and very white collar...as well as a higher level of education, generally speaking.

Odessa is seen as more blue-collar working class. Midland could be the ultimate in snobbery (Petroleum Club, Midland Polo Club, Midland Country Club, blah, blah, blah). Both towns have their share of white and blue collar workers--Midland was just more white collar than Odessa.

There has always been a pretty bitter rivalry between the two cities, which I largely ignored when I lived in Midland. I thought some people were going to die when Odessa got UTPB, instead of Midland.

It would have been nice to have located it halfway between, but for various reasons (which I don't remember now), it was not to be.

That may not be what the OP meant, but that's how I interpreted it.
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Old 03-18-2009, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Texas
8,064 posts, read 18,013,272 times
Reputation: 3730
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jezer View Post
Okay, so I'm a Brit but have lived in TX, and have no idea what this Midland thing is.
Heh, I've lived in Texas for 15 years, West Texas for 2 1/2 years, and I have no idea what it is, either.
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Old 03-18-2009, 10:27 PM
 
Location: Denver
4,716 posts, read 8,579,521 times
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These are just broad generalizations but for the most part
Odessa=roughnecks
Midland=oil company supervisors, managers, and administration
There are rich people in Odessa and poor people in Midland, but Midland does tend to have an air of superiority when talking about Odessa. "Pulling the Midland card" is basically a Midlander implying that he/she is superior to someone from Odessa.
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Old 03-18-2009, 10:47 PM
 
18,131 posts, read 25,296,596 times
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I heard about this from Randi Rhodes in Air America.
She's a talk radio host and I believe she said that she grew up in Odessa
so she's talked about it a few times.
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Old 03-19-2009, 03:31 AM
 
Location: SW France
16,672 posts, read 17,440,619 times
Reputation: 29968
It seems strange to me that there is an inbuilt assumption that just because you are from a particular place you are a particular type of person.

There's allsorts in all places.
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Old 03-19-2009, 08:44 AM
 
3,309 posts, read 5,774,935 times
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Typical rivalry between adjoining towns so to speak is what I'd say. Akin to the same oh same oh between Dallas and Fort Worth and the same goes for all over.

When I went to high school in Arlington, we had 2 high schools in town...Arlington High and Sam Houston...same type of thing. On a larger scale is Texas vs. OU, whew those Texas/OU week-ends use to be wild over in Dallas and we always had a bet to see how many ended up in jail that night. Then you can just keep stepping up to different levels of competition. Rivalry starts when we're siblings and follows us all through our lives. Rivalry, it's always been and always will be, but what can you say, it's a good thing if it doesn't get out of control.
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