When I moved to New Mexico in 1989, I had a subscription to Insight magazine, a weekly news magazine that I thought might give Time and U.S. News & World Report a good run for their money. I wanted to avoid missing issues, so I called the tollfree number for customer service to provide my new address.
When I reached a young customer service representative who was probably on the East Coast somewhere, I gave her my new address. I offered to spell Albuquerque for her; it's tricky for many people, and I spelled it for her.
Then she asked what state that was in.
"New Mexico," I told her.
"Is that overseas?" Yes! She really asked that!
I could hardly believe what I was hearing, so I said, "Well, some people would say so, but it's not."
She said, "Well, sir, if it is overseas, we have to charge you more, because postage to send magazines overseas is higher."
I assured her that New Mexico was in the United States, but I have never been sure that she believed me.
The state magazine of New Mexico dedicated a page every month to stories just like this. The page title was "One of Our Fifty is Missing." Every month they would publish stories of people who had encountered others who believed that New Mexico was not one of the United States. One of the best stories was about tourists from Florida who had been told to take their passports if they went to New Mexico!
The state magazine was worth its subscription price just for that one page alone! To enjoy a little of its humor online, just click here: http://www.nmmagazine.com/50missing.php
© 2008 GUS PHILPOTT
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