Those who were unable to walk away from their jobs and move out west were inclined to celebrate the cowboy by abandoning their penny loafers after office hours in favor of a pair of cowboy boots and visit the local honky-tonk bar. That is to say, that while the dream of being a cowboy drove many towards the countryside and out of the city lights, there was a vast majority the maintained their own version of the west within the concrete confines of the cities by donning ten-gallon hats and riding mechanical bulls, while women swooned to romance novels written about cowboys on white chargers. At the same time, the tradition of rodeo began to take on a very public form, and events based on the skills of working class cowboys such as calf roping and saddle bronc riding drew enormous crowds who watched in wonder the rodeo cowboys - men who embodied the popular image of their heritage. The cowboy has also had several more subtle effects on the everyday lives of the population today which are present in the subconscious. The honesty of the cowboy in all that he did is still aspired to by society as a whole.
People strive to obtain employment that they'll enjoy and draw their pay from jobs well done.
Men want to have control and freedom while women search for men who'll treat them with respect and build them a log cabin of their own. Today, the working cowboy tells his own story, for the first time since the turn of the century, through the surge of cowboy poets and western musicians celebrating themselves at gatherings. The general public, still in love with the dream of being a cowboy, can share in this new wave of showcasing the cowboy way of life. Through the honest realism being portrayed by the men who carry the torch of the original working cowboy, all can be inspired. The impacts of cowboy logic and the ways of the West on modern culture are still visible today.