There’s a line in one of my favorite Lyle Lovett songs entitled “White Frieghtliner Blues,” that goes like this:
“Well New Mexico ain’t bad, people there, they treat you kind.”
The song was written by Townes van Zandt, a Texas native who Bob Dylan once called the greatest singer of his generation. Van Zandt was a tortured soul, suffering from schizophrenia and subjected to shock and insulin treatments. His songs have been performed by many artists over the years, but I always thought Lovett’s version of White Freightliner Blues was the best. It’s a fast-paced version of the song and it will definitely get you pumped up.
Van Zandt also wrote the song “Pancho and Lefty,” made famous by Willie Nelson, and also a favorite of mine. It’s about a complicated relationship between two outlaws, Pancho who is killed by the Federales in Mexico and Lefty, his friend who betrayed him. Lefty then moves to Ohio where he is haunted by his regrets of letting Pancho die at the hands of Mexican federal agents.
But I digress. I’m not sure why van Zandt said that “New Mexico ain’t bad” and that the people here were “kind.”
I mention this because I stumbled across something on “Buzzfeed” on the internet the other day which ranked New Mexico as the third friendliest state in the United States. I’m not sure how scientific the survey was and how the author of the article came up with the rankings, but with all the other low rankings New Mexico gets in other categories, we’ll take this one.
The top ranked state was Wyoming, and the survey said that was because “there are no people there.” Fair enough, I guess.
Second was Alaska, again mentioned because of its low population, and then for New Mexico at No. 3, there was this comment:
“I have lived in Illinois, Colorado, and now New Mexico. Whenever family comes to visit us in New Mexico, they talk about how absolutely nice and welcoming everyone is here and how you do not see that back home (in Illinois, for example). So, I will say New Mexico.”
My Nebraska farm girl wife was annoyed that her home state, which ranked 8th, was not listed higher. I have to agree with her since I’ve always felt that Nebraska was friendly place.
But getting back to New Mexico, I wondered if a sign I saw last week along Interstate 10 in Las Cruces might make people rethink how friendly or welcoming our state is.
Yes, the sign says $8.88 per gallon for regular gasoline But actually, it’s misleading. The sign was apparently being tested after installation at a new “Maverik” travel center at the corner of I-10 and Avenida de Mesilla. I’m sure the price listed on the giant sign will be reduced significantly when the station opens.
But for someone whizzing along I-10 and not understanding what was happening, I’m sure their reaction was to keep heading west to Arizona or east to Texas and hope they didn’t run out of gas before they got to that state and found more reasonable prices.
aero-cordero.com 