Heard it in the newsroom: The worst state

SN&R’s Streetalk question this week is: What is the worst state?

The six responses were varied, but come on, only one of them was right: Florida.

That peninsula of a province, the phallus of the United States—it always seems to be making headlines in the worst ways by the actions of its residents, and also for things that happen to those poor souls. Remember back in March, a man in his Tampa home was swallowed by a sinkhole?
CNN reported: “The state lies on bedrock made of limestone or other carbonate rock that can be eaten away by acidic groundwater, forming voids that collapse when the rock can no longer support the weight of what’s above it.” Like that man’s bedroom. With him in it. And his body was never recovered.

And then there’s the Twitter feed, @_floridaman, which tweets real, bizarre headlines beginning with the words “Florida man.” For instance:
Florida Man Tried To Pay Water Bill With Envelope Full Of Crack.”

Usual deposit: Staff working for Delfina Water found a customer had placed a 3 gram bag of cocaine into an envelope

Crack cocaine is official currency in Florida now? (Image courtesy of www.dailymail.co.uk.)

So, the real question is: What state is runner-up? Arizona? New Jersey?

Well, maybe we won’t say New Jersey, because, according to co-editor Rachel Leibrock, “New Jersey will cut a bitch.”

Arizona it is.
 

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