Every once in a while you come across bizarre things that either make you say “Huh,” make you spit out your soft drink or make you explode with laughter.
Sometimes all three.
One of my weaknesses is getting caught up in these clickbait things on Facebook that tell all sorts of not-that-interesting facts, and this afternoon the one that captured my attention was called “USA Maps that Will Totally Change How You See the Country.“
Some of them were interesting, others weren’t.
It didn’t surprise me that in 49 of the 50 states, either Starbucks (37) or Dunkin’ Donuts (12) are the most popular chains that sell coffee. But I had never heard of Caribou, the most popular chain in Minnesota.
It didn’t surprise me that Apple was the biggest brand name in California, or Coca Cola in Georgia or General Motors in Michigan. but I wondered a little about Dr. Pepper being tops in Texas. In Oklahoma it’s Sonic, the drive-in and not the Hedgehog.
The religion one had a couple of minor surprises. Tough to understand how Islam is the No. 2 religion in the northern Great Plains, and bizarre to see that the Baha’i faith is second in South Carolina.
The best one, though, is the map at the beginning of this post, the question of what people in each state hate the most. To be fair, the answers here come from a dating App, so it should come as little surprise that most of the answers seem to relate to relationships.
I seriously doubt that THE biggest hatred in Texas is sleeping with the window open or that “Seinfeld” is so widely hated in Kansas.
Others that are completely goofy are Pennsylvanians hating people with money clips, South Carolinians hating Edward Snowden, South Dakotans hating the New York Times and Idahoans hating to ask for directions.
But there is clearly one state that stands out from all the rest.
Look aqt the map for a minute and see the one state whose pet hate absolutely jumps out at you.
Mississippi.
Land of people whose most hated thing about dating relationships is … anal sex.
OK, they hate it. Is that because it seems like it would be a horrible thing to do or because it was a horrible thing to do?
Another reason to turn right in western Alabama and head up to Tennessee.
Or if you forget, don’t stop for gas till you reach Arkansas, where all they hate there is cleaning.