On the way back from lunch, a colleague asked me the name of the island state near Hawaii. I asked her if she meant Guam or the Mariana islands which are territories rather than states, but those weren't it. I told her Puerto Rico and the US virgin islands are other territories, but are in the Atlantic ocean. She said she had looked at an electoral map and it had a large island near Hawaii.
I couldn't help but laugh when I explained that the large island, wasn't an island at all, but was Alaska. I told her that the electoral maps usually stick Alaska and Hawaii near the continental 48 so we don't have to look at the non-US land in between (i.e. Canada).
When we got back to the office she showed me the link then went on about how there should be a box around Hawaii and Alaska on the map so people don't think that's the actual layout. I pointed out that it wasn't made for foreigners who can't vote in the election.
But based on how much red there is on the map...there may be a lot of Americans who also think that Alaska is a large island next to Hawaii.
I couldn't help but laugh when I explained that the large island, wasn't an island at all, but was Alaska. I told her that the electoral maps usually stick Alaska and Hawaii near the continental 48 so we don't have to look at the non-US land in between (i.e. Canada).
When we got back to the office she showed me the link then went on about how there should be a box around Hawaii and Alaska on the map so people don't think that's the actual layout. I pointed out that it wasn't made for foreigners who can't vote in the election.
But based on how much red there is on the map...there may be a lot of Americans who also think that Alaska is a large island next to Hawaii.
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I'd like to think that Americans would never make the same mistake, but I wonder.... I remember once teasing about a sign that said something about Greyhound (bus company) was the cheapest way to get anywhere. I teased about the cost of Greyhound to Hawaii and my teenage daughter's boyfriend responded, in all seriousness "Yeah, that would probably be pretty expensive!" Daughter looked like she wanted to melt into the ground with embarrassment. Even my then six year old looked at me with a look of "shouldn't that be a joke?" Of course when I told my older son we were going to take him to Paris, he asked - "Is that in Italy?" *headdesk*
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