Humorist and author Dave Barry on Florida – Florida:
The Punchline State
“The point is that,
yes, Florida, because of its unique shape and warm climate, does have an unusually
high percentage of low-IQ people doing stupid things, frequently naked. But
most of these people came here from other states, the very same states that are
laughing at Florida. Those of us who live here have to contend with not just
our native-born stupid, but your stupid, too. We are like Ellis Island, except
instead of taking the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, we take people
who yearn to pleasure themselves into a stuffed animal at Wal-Mart.
But it isn’t just
the Stupid Factor that has given Florida its unfortunate national reputation.
There is also the Weirdness Factor. Things keep happening in Florida—things
that are similar to things that happen in other states, except that there is
some mutant element, some surreal twist, that makes the rest of the nation nod
its national head and think, “Ah, Florida.”