One Of Our 50 Is Missing - September 2009
After more than two decades, thousands of our readers have shared their experiences of lost New Mexico in the "One of Our 50 is Missing" humor column, compiled by managing editor Walter K. Lopez. Tell us your experiences at fifty@nmmagazine.com or on our message board.
TRIPPIN’ OUT: Linda Hanstrom, of Milan, Illinois, made a quick stop at her local credit union to pick up some cash for a getaway to Albuquerque. But she received more than cold, hard cash from the teller.
After Hanstrom submitted the proper paperwork for a withdrawal, she struck up a conversation with the teller, who asked, “Where are you going on your trip?”
When Hanstrom informed her that she was visiting New Mexico, the teller was incredulous. “Isn’t that near the equator?”
Hanstrom was stunned. “No,
New Mexico is in the continental United States.” The only retort the teller could muster was, “Oh.”
NOT THE WRITE STUFF: Jack L. Cunningham Jr., of Dallas, was relaxing with a book by one of his favorite authors when he hit a snag. “I was reading a new book by Robert K. Tanenbaum, and like many writers, he puts some of the action in New Mexico,” says Cunningham, a novelist in his own right. “However, on page 254 of Counterplay [Atria Books, 2006], he writes:”
She recalled a conversation she’d had with the agent that afternoon. It was believed that the terrorists had entered New Mexico from Mexico near the town of Gallup. About thirty thousand people are caught sneaking across the border there every year; many more aren’t apprehended.
That paragraph stopped Cunningham dead in his tracks. “It’s true that most of these unfortunates are trying to make a better life for themselves, but moving Gallup south a few hundred miles is taking it a little too far,” he says. “Or maybe it’s those Arizonans we are worried about. But even so, it’s a good book.”
JOKE’S ON US: Kenny Dillingham, of Albuquerque, says he’s been a big fan of New Mexico Magazine and this column for quite a while. So the conversation that transpired with our new subscription service in Palm Coast, Florida, came as a surprise.
“For years I have enjoyed reading all the fantastic articles in New Mexico Magazine, especially those that teach me about places I can go hiking. I also find ‘One of Our Fifty Is Missing’ to be very funny and mood-lifting, so I recently decided to get a personal subscription, and called to place my order.”
Dillingham says the give and take with the fulfillment-house rep went normally until he was asked for his
address. “Could you spell Albuquerque?” the rep asked.
Dillingham says he chuckled, thinking the rep was joking with him, but he was even more amused when he realized that the rep was serious. “Hey, I guess it is a hard city to spell. In all fairness, though, the guy was from Florida.”
