Concrete Mindset

Growing up in Midland, and living here as an adult, one of the characteristics of it's citizenry that stands out is stubbornness.

Perhaps, living where we do, and trying to scratch a living in this region from under the ground, this trait is not only admired, but necessary. It takes a hard head to simply deal with the extremes in weather here (witness the recent storm damage, WITHOUT any rainfall).

Several years ago, Garth Brooks did a remake of Mickey Gilley's "Nobody Gets Off In This Town." Double entendres aside, I always felt one line described Midland in particular. It follows:
"In the winter you freeze,
in the summer you fry.
Utility bill's the only thing that gets high.
I'd go for a drink,
but this county is dry,
Nobody gets off in this town."

While our county isn't "dry" the rest of the verse is, in my mind, apropo.
The question, as always, is "Why?"

Native Americans aside, people have lived in this area for well over 100 years. And, I'm not sure which one of them established the "Midland Mindset," but it had to be set fairly early on, probably just for survival.

The problem now is this. Midland still makes quite a good living exploiting the underground petroleum and gas reserves of the area. However, the world around us has changed, and is changing ever more rapidly. The "Concrete Midland Mindset" is not.

For example, one of the basic tenets of the attitude carried by most locals is that WE MUST LOOK WEALTHY, EVEN IF WE ARE NOT WEALTHY. Don't believe it? How many new and late model vehicles have you seen parked in front of run down apartments and ramshackle houses?

Here's another example. The majority of Midland looks like a verdant green forest compared to the surrounding lands. We have planted trees, shrubs, lawns and flowers of every variety to make the city LOOK GOOD, or by extension of "GOOD," WEALTHY> We water, water, and water some more until we threaten to suck the lakes, at least 150 miles away by pipeline, dry. We build houses of lumber, which certainly isn't native to this area, and brick that is shipped in by the truckload from who knows where. Why? Because the Concrete Mindset says that is the way it's done and that is what's beautiful.

I wonder, how many Midlanders are simply following their neighbors example, keeping up with the Joneses so to speak, instead of thinking for themselves, "What do I REALLY want in a home, vehicle, etc.?"

Answer: MOST OF THEM. Thus the term, Concrete Mindset. West Texan stubbornness gone awry. This is why anything or anyone who is different from the norm around here is seen as "weird," "wrong," or a threat.

In the blogs to come, I'm going to ask you to use your imagination a little and explore possibilities for this place that probably never entered your mind. Do me a favor. Read the entire entry before you call me crazy. O.K.?