In a not exactly unimpeachable poll Americans voted that New York is the rudest and most arrogant state.
I dunno. First of all it seems to me that once again the lovely people of upstate and western New York are taking it on the chin because of New York City. That aside, I can definitely see why people say New York is the rudest state, though I’d think Pennsylvania and New Jersey would give some stiff competition. But as for “most arrogant,” in fairness, I think Texas deserves the title. I like Texas. And given its economic performance in recent years, I think much of its arrogance is deserved or at least defensible. But New Yorkers don’t make their kids recite the pledge of allegiance to … Texas every morning. Also, there is very, very, very little New York “state pride.” There’s an immense amount of smugness in the Big Apple about New York City but it doesn’t extend to, say, Rochester or Syracuse. Indeed, New York City dwellers have roughly the same attitude about those cities as they do about Oklahoma City, which is to say they are only vaguely sure they actually exist. Folks in Buffalo — in my limited experience — are downright humble.
Meanwhile, Texans — and I say this with love — have so much state pride that it often spills over into arrogance. They’re often quite nice about it. But facts are facts.