But on a weekly basis this summer, some patient would tell me that they went to "Eastern Washington" on vacation. When I questioned them further, they had gone to Chelan or Moses Lake or somewhere similar. Yes, I suppose technically if you divide the state of Washington in half, the Cascades are pretty much in the middle, so anything east of the mountains is eastern Washington. But isn't central Washington a more accurate description of where you were??
Thursday at work, someone brought in some wonderful peaches and plums. That led to a discussion of where to get good fruit. One of my coworkers, who is really not the brightest star in the sky, said she always gets her fruit "from that fruit stand in eastern Washington". Oh yeah, THAT fruit stand. You idiot, there is more than one fruit stand in the eastern half of the state. As she elaborated, the one she meant was the Thorpe place right before Ellensburg. Ok, since CENTRAL Washington University is in Ellensburg, wouldn't that pretty much be CENTRAL Washington?
And then at lunch, same coworker (who, as a side note, rivals Laurie on her health issues) asked me what state Chicago is in. Really? REALLY? Ok, if she'd asked what state Edwall was in, I could see not knowing that one. Even some mid-sized towns I'd have understood. But Chicago is the third-largest city in the country. That's like not knowing what country London or Paris is in. Do they not teach geography in school anymore?
