The World’s Worst?

When it comes to understanding basic geography, Americans are just about the world’s worst. Supposedly, our complete ignorance of the world around us was eclipsed only by that of people from the former Soviet Union (whose government didn’t want its citizens knowing which way to go to get the Hell out of Dodge). Now that the USSR is no more, we may be the ruling champs. Case in point:

During the 1996 Olympics, USA citizens could call a special toll-free number to order tickets to various Olympic events. All USA citizens except those from New Mexico, that is. Callers from New Mexico were repeatedly told by Olympic staffers that, “This service is only available to USA residents.” “But New Mexico is part of the USA,” callers would reply. No luck. It took intervention by the governor of New Mexico before the Olympic committee finally educated its employees that New Mexico, the 47th state, was admitted to the USA in 1912 and is surrounded on three sides by other US states. Duh!

If that much misinformation is pervasive about part of the continental USA, imagine what people think about an “exotic foreign country” like Hawai’i.

“I’m calling you From the United States” »

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