A.B.C... It's easy as one, two, three, Montana??

Yet another episode of what the American education is doing for our youth:

I went into CVS on Sunday to pick up my prescription. This nice, early 20s young man rung up my purchase. I have the CVS card so he needed my keys to get me the discounts etc. and on my key ring is my Marshall teacher tag. He asked me if I liked teaching there, and of course, I gave the neutral reply. 

He then asked me what I taught. "AP World History", I replied. He stops filling the bag, looks me in the eye and says very seriously, "I don't know anything about history." This is the typical response for most people I meet. I just nodded and said "Yeah, I'm not usually a favorite subject." We kind of chuckled and right as I was about to leave, he gets excited and says "Wait! I did learn something new the other day about history."

I look at him expectantly and he says in all seriousness, I kid you not:

"I learned Montana is a real place a few days ago. I mean, who knew? I just thought it was somewhere they made up so they could put all those Western films together or something..." 

All I could think to say was "Seriously?" in the most sarcastic and flabbergasted voice ever! The man behind me, a gentlemen in his 40s, starts to laugh. And the youth just keeps going! He then says:

"I'm dead serious! And, Montana is in the USA! That like, blew me away! I thought it would be somewhere else...out in the middle of nowhere ya know. But nah, it is one of the 50 states."

By this point I know my mouth is hanging open, staring at the young man in complete shock and horror at the words which keep coming out of his mouth. The man behind me is seriously rolling with laughter by this point. I turn around to look at him, and he just laughs harder. 

I can honestly think of no smart reply to this statement at all, so I grab my bag and make to leave. The youth then stops me by putting his hand on my arm and says "Please don't judge me. I'm from The Valley. All we do is cheat down there."

I gave him my meanest teacher glare with the left eyebrow going up and just left. I got halfway out the door and then panicked! This young man has no clue where Montana is but he just filled my prescription!!?? Um, no. I sat down over in the corner of CVS and checked my prescription: size, weight, color and all to make sure he had not screwed that up. Everything checked out, but I resolved right then and there to NOT go back and get help from that young man. 

Good grief people!! Is San Antonio the only place where people act like this? I am beginning to become seriously concerned. This is the 3rd incident in a matter of weeks. A little hamlet in the Swiss Alps, around the city of Bern, is beginning to look more and more appealing every day...