Kellee Speakman is a 50-year-old teacher who moved from California to Texas in 2022 in search of "freedom," but she only stayed four months.
Kellee Speakman, a conservative elementary school teacher, moved from California to Texas in 2022 but returned after four and a half months due to Texas's political obsession and unexpected living costs.
Speakman found Texas to be not much cheaper than California, with high property taxes, expensive services, and lower wages, which contributed to her dissatisfaction.
She returned to California, appreciating its lifestyle, public lands, and better teacher benefits, realizing that her idea of freedom involved peace and everyday adventures rather than political rhetoric.
I spent three months in Houston about 10 years ago and I've never experienced such a wild-ass level of passive aggressive probing to see if I was in their particular in-group anywhere else. I'm from the Midwest and used to some of that but it was every fucking conversation, down to getting asked what church I attend while trying to get a coffee at a cafe.
Ah yes! I also grew up in the Midwest and lived in Fort Worth for a few years and the biggest culture shock was that, "What church do you go to?" was essentially the standard follow-up to introducing myself. I always lied and said I went to a church out in one of the suburbs in the hopes that they wouldn't try to associate...