The title of a popular column at the end of New Mexico Magazine. Basically, it makes fun of people outside New Mexico who don’t know that we are a state.

Well, who could be that stupid?

A lot of people it turns out. The column usually has around three sections, each with a different story sent in by New Mexicans who have had a run in with an ignorant non-New Mexican.

A typical story works like this (though I’m just copying the style not an actual article): While trying to order some food with a check in Florida, Jane Doe of Hatch, New Mexico got more than she had bargained for. “The lady behind the counter informed me that they do not take foreign checks,” says Doe. After a few tense moments the lady called her manager and asked him if New Mexico was a state. “Sure,” he replied. “It’s below California.”

If you think the column is exaggerating I can assure you it is not. I have run into people like this in California, Colorado (they at least should know better, sharing a border with us and everything), and at a layover in the O’Hare Airport in Chicago. The girl at O’Hare was particularly frustrating:

Me: New Mexico is a state.

Her: No it’s not.

Me: No, it is. See here (I pull out a map).

Her: That map’s… like… totally outdated (she actually said that).

I used to chuckle at the column. Now I just shake my head.