Fifty Nifty United States

Here are some random state facts that are interesting to me:

-The state of Texas has a "flag pledge." They say it before the Pledge of Allegiance. "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible." How's that for Texas state pride?

-In Arizona your driver's license doesn't expire for like 45 years. This means you will be walking around at age 40 with your 16 year-old face on your license. I'm not sure this is such a great idea because it is very trusting of Arizonans. What about identity theft? How do you get old people not to drive if they can't physically do it anymore? I just got mine renewed and am glad to finally get it horizontal and a new and better looking picture.

-In Washington (my home state) they enacted a law in July of 2008 against talking on cell phones while driving. This is the first of its kind in the U.S. I hope they catch a lot of people! (Sorry, that is my inner public health major coming out).

-54 years after Brown V. Board of Education a Mississippi high school still had yet to hold an integrated prom. The actor Morgan Freeman volunteered to foot the bill at his former high school if they did. A documentary film maker followed the attempt to get this to come to pass. READ.

-Whenever I introduce myself I have to say I am from Washington State, not just Washington. This is because people for some reason assume Washington D.C. This is perplexing to me because people from Washington D.C. refer to it as "D.C." not Washington. It is also mostly "West Coast" people who have this confusion. This also baffles me because of our geographical proximity to Washington state and the likelihood they have been there and not D.C. Did people not pass 4th grade geography?

-Whenever Marissa introduces herself as from Alabama I always start singing the song in my head. I can get to about Kentucky before I mess up. How far can you get? And the Alabama state song is "Stars Fell on Alabama." How poetic.