More unusual things about Texas

I never saw commercials for churches until I moved down here. Believe me, it is strange to be watching TV and then have some people come on who discuss "how our lives are busier today than ever. So come to (you name the church) for our four part series on making time."

I come from a religion that doesn't advertise on TV. You're expected to join the church closest to your home; at least that's the way it always seemed to me. The only time I ever changed churches were during Desert Storm when the priest at my regular parish didn't offer support for the troops (one of whom was my father). My mother and I wound up going to a neighboring parish to worship and it was nice. The other time I changed churches was before DH and I married. My old parish was semicircular with orange carpet. It looked horrendous, I didn't care for it or the priest, so I looked for a new church. I went to three other local parishes. One was in an Ivy Leage town and was a beautiful large church. The second looked like it had been a ranch style house that had been converted, and the third was a beautiful traditional church. That was the church for me; it looked much like the one I attended as a child. The church had many groups, and the priests were great.

The other strange thing about commercials are the family ones. There are family owned companies where the entire family is featured on the commercial, kids included. Being from the North, I find this completely odd. However, it seems completely normal for down here, since everyone seems to advertise their children. The kids' names are plastered on the back windshields of cars, along with the logos of the sport or activity the child does. So why shouldn't business owners leverage their kids for a sale?! Odd. Then again, I am a Yankee, so I'm paranoid.

My third commercial oddity is the way some advertisers emphasize the fact that they are a Christian business. It just seems so weird to me, because that is not how I determine to whom I give my business. I use many things to help me determine where my money goes, but I try to get references, use the BBB, etc. The funniest example of this is the Christian trial lawyers whose commercials I've seen. It makes me snicker.

And finally, I had heard that Texans take great pride in their looks, and that has become painfully obvious to me. Why? Because I don't know that I've ever been anywhere where gastric bypass and lap band surgery centers have been so heavily advertised. I swear, you can't watch 30 minutes of TV without catching a plastic surgery commercial. And to be honest, it's probably more like 15 minutes without a commercial. It's THAT bad!