At a restaurant just off Interstate 40 in Tucumcari, N.M., four women from Arkansas, en route to a fat farm in Arizona, appeared flush with excitement, New Mexico magazine reports.
The excitement, it turned out, was due to the fact that they were able to cross over into New Mexico without showing their passports — which all deemed necessary for the trip.
From Porter’s People in the Akron Beacon Journal
Thanks to Dwight Perry for the link.
As Mr. Burns said, “there is a New Mexico?”
I believe that Homer said that. Perhaps the writers have used that gag twice, just as they did the 912 gag. (Chief Wiggam: “Hello? No! You’ve got the wrong number! This is 912!”)
Actually, what Burns said is, “”Whoa! Whoa! Slow down there mistro. There’s a New Mexico?”
From Serious Burns http://sb.alltoons.co.uk/content.php?p=lines
Homer did ask the questions as well.
This story reminds me of one many years back in “The Post-Intelligencer” in Seattle. A guy in a bank was buying travelers checks for a vacation in Hawaii. He jokingly asked the teller if he could buy some Hawaiian currency. She told him he would have to go to the downtown office, as they did not handle currency exchange at that branch.
He was a bit surprised by the answer and asked the teller if they didn’t use the same kind of money in Hawaii as they do here.
“I wouldn’t know sir,” she replied, “I’m from California.”
When I returned to NJ a few years ago, I tried to pay for an item with a check, drawn from my New Mexico account. The young female cashier informed me that she couldn’t accept international checks. When I explained that New Mexico was a state, she got miffed and told me she “wasn’t an idiot” and called her supervisor.
The supervisor calmly explained to her that yes, New Mexico was a state, and that she should take my check. The cashier was so angry, she ripped my check.
I left and bought the item elsewhere.