Illustration by Chris Philpot. 

MIDWEST NOT-SO-NICE

After a visit to Tucson, JANICE JONES was returning to the Midwest via Amtrak, on the Sunset Limited, set to change trains in San Antonio, Texas. She sat next to a young lady from New York. After the seatmates had chatted for a few hours, the New Yorker asked if they were in Texas yet. Jones told her that they had to go through New Mexico first. The woman said, “There’s a state called New Mexico?!” Jones replied, “I forgot that you folks from east of the Mississippi know very little about the West.” Sick burn, Janice!

CAR TROUBLE

REGAN EYERMAN and her family had just finished a cruise in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and were renting a car at the airport. When the clerk looked at the reservation and saw that they were from Albuquerque, she asked Eyerman’s husband for his passport. She helpfully added that it was required because they were not from this country. The situation involved calling over a supervisor, who confirmed that—surprise!—Albuquerque, New Mexico, was a real place in the United States.

THE CONFUSED CRITIC

CYNTHIA GRIEGO sent us an unwittingly hilarious review of  Verde Restaurant, located in the city of Lihue, on the island of Kaua‘i, in Hawaii. Published in a local guidebook,  the write-up calls Verde “a nice Mexican joint,” praising “less typical” menu items like stuffed sopaipillas and stacked enchiladas, and adding that the owners are “proud of their chilies.” “They call it New Mexican,” the writer summarizes, “and the results are probably the best Mexican food on the island.”

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