There was lots of bipartisan state-level resistance to REAL ID, since it was an unfunded mandate on the states. No surprise that it kept getting delayed. Current status of acceptance to state IDs, according to the DHS: https://www.dhs.gov/real-id .
In some states, one has the option of getting a REAL ID driver’s license or state ID by showing all of the necessary things, or a non-REAL-ID version that is sufficient for driving or other state ID purposes that do not specify a REAL ID.
But that is not related to people not realizing that New Mexico is a US state.
I was first told I needed a passport to travel inside the US decades before Real ID was passed.
Although NM initially refused to comply with the Real iD mandate, the state caved–and I have a Real iD compliant driver’s license, but that doesn’t seem to matter to car rental companies.
@moooop Do you put Montreal in the question leading them to that answer? I’ve often heard Toronto mentioned as the capital, and once even Vancouver, but never Montreal (and Toronto more often than Ottawa when away from the border with folks who are guessing).
If you don’t use the leading question, I’m wondering if it’s regional with the wrong answer - perhaps more New England than Mid Atlantic or South.
If you use the leading question, that explains it as most folks don’t stop to think when given two options. It’s natural for humans to quickly assume one of the two is correct without thinking. It’s a method often used in jest when trying to get folks to mess up.
The US Postal Service is right there with you. I ordered an item that was shipped from Pennsylvania priority mail over 2 weeks ago to HI. It spent some time in Puerto Rico last week.
UPS doesn’t seem to know where HI is either. I’m still waiting for a different shipment also ordered over 2 weeks ago from Best Buy. Their store on Oahu had it in stock and their website said it would be here in 2 days. Best Buy decided to ship it from AZ via UPS SurePost. It’s supposed to be delivered by UPS to the local post office. UPS dumped it to a post office in San Francisco.
^ Right. And West New York is in New Jersey, but asking a Chicagoan how things are in Indiana is as absurd as asking a Manhattanite how things are in New Jersey. In each case there’s a very big dog and a very small tail, and if you can’t tell the difference, you’re pretty clueless.
Okay- if I look at a map that V and N hint is useful. Mentioning Lake Champlain to a Great Lakes State resident is reason for… and no help. Can’t believe some think just because of its size it belongs- by that criteria Lake Winnebago would work (large and empties into the waterway)- no way.
Puerto Rico is a country, sort of. Just not independent et al. Neighbors from there (living in Tampa now) and I know it is not a state but its status is strange- US citizens but can’t vote for president in PR, but move to the states and can. I can see how there would be confusion. btw- it is still a power mess after hurricane Maria, but before as well… The flight there is so much shorter than to Seattle (but one CAN drive from FL to WA).
Mathmom- your grade school Europe map is wrong now. Even your post grad one…
I love Washington- the state. The one that is DC- nice place to visit.
fun facts. Wausau, WI (about the center of WI) is very close to the middle of our quarter sphere. Marker at the edge of a cornfield near there at 90 w and 45 n. Go through the earth and you will be in another- N China. The other two are in oceans. Of course that longitude is an arbitrary mark courtesy of the British.
Miss printed encyclopedias- especially colorful World Book. Flipping pages to find random information, sometimes instead of what you were looking for…
Puerto Rico has its own Olympic teams…maybe that throws off some people.
And come to think of it, some of the lyrics in West Side Story (notably the song “America”) might lead some people to think Peurto Rico & the U.S. are not related.
Did anyone else’s kids learn Chef MIMAL in elementary school? The outline of Minnesota-Iowa-Missouri-Arkansas-Mississippi theorectically looks like a chef in a toque.
I really got to know the states after decades of driving trips from Chicago in every direction, using paper maps and guidebooks. The only state I haven’t been through is North Dakota.
