While visiting a friend in Texas, I was struck with how many seemingly normal adults there like to play cowboy. By that I mean they like to wear a cowboy costume, with hat, boots and belt buckle, and for some reason this is all seen as normal.
I guess it is, except the fact that this cowboy character died out about, oh, 100 years or so back. Nonetheless, the idea that you can play dress up and call yourself a cowboy seems fine in Texas. There is a commentator on the Fox News site who writes about the cowboy way of doing things, noting the ethical and moral codes that cowboys live by. Did a cowboy committee - maybe Wyatt Earp, Jesse James and Hopalong Cassidy - get together and write these rules? Also, I think Billy the Kid was a cowboy and his moral standing seems a bit dubious to me.
Along the same line, I notice that one of the most popular country songs in recent history is “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).” That’s great advice – where’s the time machine parked, so I can get right on this? Country stars, take Clint Black for example, love to dress like they’re going to a shootout with Black Bart. I would venture to say that most of these “cowboys” have a) never ridden a horse, b) never rustled cattle, and c) live in a suburb of Dallas.
Would it be okay if I start playing dress-up too? Will these cowboys criticize me? I want to play colonial settler. I’ll sing hymns, drink mulled cider and practice a strict form of Puritanism (except when I sing my theme song – “Save a Mule, Let a Godfearing Colonial Plow Your Field”).
I'll wear the hat with the buckle on it – the whole deal. Maybe people in Minnesota will start dressing as Norse explorers. You can really pick the character that works for you – ninja, pharaoh, peasant. I’m assuming no one in Texas will have a problem with this, as they are already way ahead on the plan. If they do, show them who’s boss, then tell them they got their ass kicked by a real American peasant – USA! USA! USA!
Howdy Partner! Best get you a holster for that there cell phone on your hip! 
What the hell does "Cowboy Up" mean? I plan to "Colonial Up." Does that trump this, since colonials came first?Mulled cider for everyone!
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