THE WORST STATES, PART THREE

One Miss-Iss-Ippi, Two Miss-Iss-Ippi, Bad Miss-Iss-Ippi

Mississippi has some serious issues

The Mississippi River at Vicksburg. While “Ol’ Man River” may be the mightiest in the land, it is not the longest. The Missouri River has the Mississippi beat by about 100 miles. Photo by Fredlyfish4 on Wikimedia Commons.

Introduction to the 48th Best State in the U.S.

To the good* people of Mississippi: This article may sting, but I didn’t create the list in which U.S. News and World Report ranked Mississippi as the 48th Best State (or the third worst, depending on how you look at it) in the country. So blame them or blame Canada, but don’t blame me.

(*good: meaning you are not racist or homophobic or a believer in Trump’s conspiracy theories. The latter may be the most difficult.)

We’ll get to the whys later in the story.

Since geography isn’t taught much in school, counting to ten when playing hide-n-seek by using “Mississippi” as the second counter might be the only knowledge we know it even exists.

I’ve never known anyone who went to Mississippi for vacation, although it is ideally situated to drive right through. Interstate 10 follows the Gulf Coast and is just 77 miles long. Interstate 20 traverses Jackson and is only 154 miles long. There is no reason to stop on your way to Florida.