Geography

I may have mentioned this before, but I often get asked, "How are things in Minnesota?". Really. Maybe they're confused by multiple words relating to geogrphaphic places that begin with the same letter. But they aren't asking me how things are in Micronesia. Or Mali. Or Michigan. No, they just can't remember that I live in Milwaukee and they figure that Minnesota must be close enough.

So today I went to Trader Joe's to get a few things before the impending blizzard. Yes, I've evidently turned into one of those people. Just for the record, I didn't buy gallons of bottled water (I figured I can always melt enough snow....). I'm checking out and I give the woman my re-usable bag and she comments on how short the handles are. So I tell her that I got it a few years ago in Maryland. And she says, wait for it..... "That's in Massachussetts, right"?

Really. She said that. And how am I supposed to respond to this politely and in public?! So I say, "Oh, I meant the State of Maryland". And she says, "that's the one that looks like a boot, right"?

Huh?!