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Living in Alaska we deal with this same thing a lot.....what I call the the Geographically Inept. A few years back I was trying to arrange some flights from the East Coast to Alaska and was told by the agent on the phone that they needed to transfer me to the "International Desk" in order to book the flights. The response by the people there was, "Oh no, not again!" We had a good laugh and they helped me anyway.
New Mexico is a state. I would argue that the name of the territory/state should have been changed in 1912 when statehood was achieved so as to prevent incidents like these.
Why do they need to change the name of the state just to cater to the stupidity or not bothering to learn basic geography?
I am a Canadian snowbird, who spends 6 months a year in the USA in Florida. It amazes me not only how little many Americans know about Canada, their largest trading partner, but how little they know about the rest of their own country. I have been in 44 of the 50 States, traveled through them on my way south, and often residents of one State have little real knowledge of one 2 States away. More so, many perceptions are those base solely on what was on the news in the past week.
And then there are those who are as aware as possible about their country and the world situation. One cannot stereotype, just observe.
Oh, HELL no. The basics like that are toast these days. Having to memorize state capitols "stifle" a child's creativity, don't ya know? <snort>
That's weird because my children -- the youngest of them is now in high school -- learned all the states in 4th grade and all the capitols in fifth grade. They then studied world geography during 6th and 7th grade. I vividly remember drilling South American geography with them. All three attended public school. Where are these public schools that do not study at least the states and their capitols?
That's weird because my children -- the youngest of them is now in high school -- learned all the states in 4th grade and all the capitols in fifth grade. They then studied world geography during 6th and 7th grade. I vividly remember drilling South American geography with them. All three attended public school. Where are these public schools that do not study at least the states and their capitols?
I suspect they are in the same areas where the adults don't believe in science & local school boards are trying to figure out how to rename the Civil War & slavery & integrate "Intelligent Design" as an "alternative" in the curriculum.
Kids need to learn facts , not personal beliefs, about science, math, civics & I would introduce financial education too. Also had to learn all state capitols & Presidents in junior high. In ninth grade my civics teacher demanded that we all read the NY Times at least on Sundays, (no funnies!) & know the names/titles of all the important politicians in DC, ie., who are the folks in line to assume the Presidency about 6-7 positions down.
He would give "pop quizzes" as an inducement to keep up.
It’s truly amazing how ignorant Americans can be. Being from West Virginia, when I go out of state (and not to states that border WV) people will frequently think I’m from the western part of Virginia. They have no idea that West Virginia is its own state.
It gets extremely frustrating, so I sympathize with the people of New Mexico.
I once worked with a girl who thought Kansas was an abbreviation for Arkansas.
Those are almost fightin' words where I come from (the real Kansas). We even pronounce the name of the same river differently. Here it's r-Kansas, down there it's r-kan saw.
In the 1960s when I first traveled to New Mexico I never blamed Americans for being ignorant for thinking they needed a passport to visit the State. Back then I blamed it on less than decent roads and highways and the fact that few Americans traveled very far.
If in fact people still think New Mexico is outside the U.S., all there is to blame is the lack of geography being taught, or learned, in the public school systems. New Mexico became a state in 1912 but it was sometime in the 1980s or 1990s that the invading hoards retiring from other states actually discovered it and began the State's destruction.
The planet is knee-deep in stupid people. It always has been. Before social media, however, we could pretend everyone had the same basic knowledge of the world. There were still stupid people then, but they didn't have the opportunities to share their stupidity with the wider world or have their stupidity exposed by their victims. Now every stupid person has access to communications devices and can broadcast their stupidity far and wide, and everyone on the receiving end of the stupidity of stupid people can share their experiences to a worldwide audience.
You can't do anything with stupid people, they are too stupid to understand they are stupid and too stupid to benefit from any form of enlightenment.
I remember reading of a TSA agent that wouldn't accept a Washington DC drivers license as a valid ID because it wasn't issued by a state.
I have had multiple people (in different States) ask for my ID. I show them my Military Retiree (spouse) ID and have been told that they have to see a D.L.
When they insist that it has to be a D.L. I respond that I am blind so, no I do not have a D.L. I really don't understand why there are issues accepting a Federal ID.
Stupid.
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