"Wait a minute. Are you saying New Mexico is in America?" said the pretty teenager behind me, of friend of A's who goes to one of the top schools in Los Angeles.
"Well, yes, it is," I said over my shoulder, trying to make her feel better. "A lot of people make that mistake, though. A magazine there even has a feature column where New Mexicans write in their stories about how everyone thinks they're foreigners."
"Wow. Since when is New Mexico part of the U.S.?" the girl said.
I tried successfully not to snap. "For about a hundred years."
"Americans are terrible at geography," said A. "Mom, remember that guy who didn't know London was a city?"
"London is a city?" said the girl. "I thought it was, like, a country."
I think I could cry. Love the graphic!
Posted by: Alison | 29 August 2008 at 01:36
My sister lived in New Mexico for 25 years and I thought she was kidding when she said that people thought it was part of Mexico.
I'll never forget the time I accidentally said Africa was a country (I meant continent and just had a momentary lapse), some guy standing near me sneered at me and told me it was a continent. Embarrassing, but I have been very careful to brush up on my geography ever since.
Posted by: Nancy | 29 August 2008 at 02:13
I have a friend here in San Francisco who moved here from North Carolina. As she was leaving NC, a dingy friend of hers said, "If I ever leave the country, I'll be sure to visit you in San Francisco." Ugh.
Posted by: Sean | 29 August 2008 at 21:42
Wow Sean, I sure hope she mean country as in "the sticks" rather than the country as in the "US" ;))
Posted by: Nancy | 30 August 2008 at 01:05
There is a girl at my high school who has a reputation for not being terribly bright. When asked to list all the continents, she said:
North America
South America
North Africa
South Africa
England
China
Japanese
The North Pole
Posted by: Alex | 30 August 2008 at 01:29
I used to think that Youtube video with the girl not knowing France was a country was a joke. But apparently not.
Posted by: Sedulia | 30 August 2008 at 03:09
A friend of my sister's thought that Arkansas was a restaurant, and she wasn't joking...sigh.
Posted by: T | 31 August 2008 at 04:36
I think your daughter needs to find some new friends!
Posted by: Accius | 07 September 2008 at 14:48
On a somewhat similar note, one of my friends who just moved from Vancouver to San Diego reported a funny encounter she had in trying to explain about Canadian Thanksgiving being in October - she was asked if we Canadians celebrate Christmas at the same time as Americans. (She can tell the story better.)
Posted by: Maktaaq | 13 October 2008 at 01:28