We love Texas unconditionally, right?  That's good.  Because, to put it nicely, other states are superior in the way they handle certain essential things like roads and jobs, and we've landed at the bottom in several categories.  Ok, we're getting our butts kicked.

Other states are generally better with roads and bridges and healthcare and things like that, according to US News and World Report.  There is one thing that Texas has mastered though, and that's the economy.  Did I say mastered?  I mean, we're in the Top 10.  Our Gross Domestic Product is #1 of all states, and we rank 5th for job growth, so there are some economy-related things that other states can probably learn from us.

What can we learn from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Minnesota, North Dakota and Washington?  Those are the best overall states, according to US News, with the highest scores in healthcare, education, crime, infrastructure, opportunity, economy, and government.  Those states keep up with roads, and have good infrastructure and low crime.  They also have fewer people in them!  Texans can be hard on roads and bridges, but there are millions of us that have to share, and wear and tear happens.  We could probably stand to take a page from New Hampshire's book on crime.  They don't have a lot of it.  We can behave a bit better.

The Houston Chronicle points out that Texas is dead last in three spots: health insurance enrollment, energy, and power grid reliability.   There are a lot of us, and the summer is hot, so maybe we can ask the sun to let up and take it easy on the power grid.

Texas is pretty awesome in a million ways, so let's focus on the bright side which includes things like Shiner and Whataburger.  We can make a mean street taco, and we can grill an amazing brisket on a Saturday afternoon.  And we've got the Piney Woods and the Oldest Town in Texas close by, and we know how to put on a festival.  Those are things that New Hampshire can be totally jealous of.  In the grand scheme, maybe Texas isn't so bad

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