I apologize for the title of this entry, but there simply is nothing else that can be said to describe this. Tony forwarded it to me and I just sat here in a state of complete shock.
Did I hear that correctly? One fifth of Americans can’t find their own country on a world map? Can that actually be true?
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she’s puurdy’
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Ha ha ha Nice one Matt, lets hope she never takes political office!!!!
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The title made me laugh
But wow….thats why im glad to be Canadian
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Gotta give AC Slater some credit for keeping a straight face there.
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I was waiting for her to start shouting “9/11! 9/11!”
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WOW. I apologize on behalf of my country. My friend and I sitting here can find it on a map, if that helps!
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holy shit. she’ll be great to run for Republican leadership. Quick sign her up…she knows how do successfully divert herself away from the real answer.
Seriously…what a girl. “come over here…see this shiny purple thing???…yeah, put it in your mouth.” “it will help your boobs grow.” Yeah do it…its real good for you.”
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You guys are missing the point here…
Asking an American to point out America on a map is a confusing question for them. Because they are then forced to consider “have we occupied that country long enough to call it our own?” So while looking at a world map, their finger wanders towards areas that “should” be theirs.
But on a brighter side, we have our own educational odditites up here. You’d be amazed at how many students in my classes ask me how to figure out their percent on a test. A girl got 98/100 and asked me.
I should tell her to go find america on a map next time.
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yeah i saw this video this morning. i’d like to see this poll the girl references in her question.
with regards to Miss South Carolina: her answer is perfect in a way. a short-sighted, ill-informed answer to a question about the apparent one-fifth of ill-informed Americans.
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I would have answered, “Because approximately 1/10th of all Americans are under the age of 5, and another 1/10th have not received the education necessary to be able to point out the US on a world map.
Also, we should help out countries like South Africa and Iraq, perhaps with maps showing where the US is located.”
BAM! A winning response!
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I watched the video in horror, then burst out laughing. Although it really is not funny, it does not surprise me. I don’t think Canadians are much better off. The things I see and hear around me on a daily basis never cease to amaze me.
The majority of people I have come across in the workplace over the years, do not know how to use proper spelling and grammar to save their lives, let alone name all the states that make up the United States of America.
When I moved to Canada (ten years ago), my biggest worry was my command of the English language. I “should of” known.
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My favorite part was when she said they couldn’ point it out on a map because they don’t have maps. That was fucking special.
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Dammit. This YouTube video and discussion related to it have flooded Google. Now I can’t find the actual poll.
Does anyone have the poll?
If she didn’t pull that out of her ass, damn that’s sad.
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that is just too precious…
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I would like to thank my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Muello, for teaching us geography. We were probably the only 5th graders who knew of and how to spell the country Leichtenstein.
I survived the public school system in the US. Where it’s gone since then seems rather sad. I just hope my little niece and nephew don’t end up being part of that 1/5th!
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If I were her, I would have faked a siezure and won the title based solely on pity.
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I love how she started talking about other countries that can’t identify the U.S.A. on a map, because they don’t have education like the states. Had she listened to the question, she might have been able to give a coherent response. Instead she just decided to come off like a ditz. Good call.
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A little bit of me felt bad for her… but I got over it.
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She’s probably never looked at a map that covers more than America. She probably thinks Canada is in America.
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No worries, she’ll find a rich guy to marry her and then… she’ll BREED!!!
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She’s stunned.
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priceless!
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that’s totally her natural haircolor
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Yep, you nailed it with the title. Wow.
I’m so speechless I can’t even come up with a witty comment. My brain is spinning around inside my head. Ha ha, maybe that’s what she felt like…
Oh, and her dress is ugly.
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That pretty well leaves me speechless. I’m not sure which is worse…The statistic or the girl’s answer.
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I particularly enjoyed how she called people “U.S. Americans.” It’s a good thing she differentiated or else I would’ve thought she was talking about North or South Americans.
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I’m very saddened by my own lack of surprise.
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haha too funny
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I’d hit it.
I wouldn’t talk to it, but I’d hit it.
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Fuck.
Stupid.
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Once upon a time, I was minding my own business, teaching Grade 3.
Just as we were about to get to the bit about how perimeter and area are, really, quite different, a burst of laughter came from the room next door.
Apparently Grade 7 French had gotten rather out of control, as one student, when asked “What is the only province in Canada that is officially bilingual?” responded…
Texas?!.
That’s right…the long lost province-that-you-might-think-is-a-state-because-it’s-so-far-away-and-not-attached-or-near-to-the-rest-of Canada-at-all-but-actually-is-a-province-and-a-bilingual-one-at-that-is…
TEXAS.
Of course, the answer is New Brunswick…but at least Quebec would have been a decent guess…and maybe Ontario, the province the story took place in, might have only generated a guffaw or two…
but Texas?
Come on.
The point is, we do have our own problems here. Maybe not can’t find my country on a map because we have a serious map shortage bad, but we have some problems of our own.
I’m working on it, though. There is only so much one guy can do, but I’m working on it.
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I don’t buy those “recent poll” results.
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so, like, what? That’s like, insane!! Like, one fifth of them? Like, that’s like, almost half! Do I have lipstick on my teeth?
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With women like that it’s not important what come’s out of their mouths so much as what goes in.
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Jesus Murphy, did anyone else here that whistling sound in the background? It was the air going through her pretty little head. As someone mentioned, only stupid people are breeding.
I think my face went numb listening to her.
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Quoting Quiet Protest:
We should hang out.
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Nice answer Miss Where-ever My Country Is. If this question was asked from a cell phone like this: “Where U at?!” - she still couldn’t have answered it I don’t think!
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That is some gold digger material right there. She’ll need to find some lonely rich man. Cause in twenty years when the pretty drains out of her,if she can’t buy it back, she’ll be screwed. Poor girl has nothing to fall back on, although maybe Bush could take her under his wing, great minds do think alike.
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I’m just impressed how she can take the topic of “a fifth of americans can’t find US on a world map” and turn it into how their education can help South Africa, Iraq and the Asian countries build up America’s future. Now that is how you do a segue.
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we all have things to learn;)
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LMAO, She was just a great example of what that question was all about, LOL. I needed a good laugh today, thanx, Matt :)
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It might be interesting to compare the “statistic” of 20% not being able to point out the U.S with the prevalence of learning disabilities in the U.S.
If the American education system is anything like ours (and it’s most likely worse) then I would not be surprised if 20% was a bit of an underestimation…. food for thought.
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I’d find the U.S. on her map and then go teach her South Africa a thing or two.
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Fun Fact: One in every five Americans also can’t find their ass tied with their hands tied behind their backs, hit the ground with handful of gravel, or find water falling out of a boat - but all this thinking is making me hungry. Let’s hit T.G.I.F.’s….and then S. Carolina.
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Ironically… She did answer the question posed to her by being one of the five…
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Why the hell isn’t this girl working in the white house?! She has a plan to fix America’s education AND that of South Africa, “The Iraq”, and “everywhere like such as!” Christ, where was this girl during Hurricane Katrina, when we needed her?
A friend sent that video to me just yesterday actually, and I thought it was gold. After watching it a couple times though, I’m starting to think that I can no longer find “US America” on a map…
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They played this on the radio this morning and I couldn’t stop laughing, especially at the “US Americans” part. You know, as opposed to the other Americans.
Then I felt kinda bad.
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I actually saw this and thought I’d misheard the question. Then I was so totally confused by her answer that I’d decided I must’ve misheard it.
Thanks for clearing things up. I think.
(Oh and next year they might want to rename the contest “Miss Teen Wherever”.)
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I’m not sure whether I should laugh or cry.
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and keep in mind, they know the IMPORTANT stuff, like who Paris is dating and who made the Superbowl.
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Quoting Alana:
Um ya…I’m with you…brutal
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I found this gem last night.
The sad thing is, I’m sure a lot of Canadians can’t name all of the provinces or our Capital.
… Then again, I’m not even sure if I can without naming a city or two.
Is this an example of a bad educational system/media or is it just an example of Ignorance.
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At first the way she said “Uh…some uh……..Americans don’t have maps” I thought she was blaming Osama. That might actually have been a more intelligent response. lol
And yeah, if the poll the questioner is quoting from is correct, how very sad.
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My mind is numb from that…
She didn’t even answer the fucking question. It’s sad that people like that rely solely on their looks and don’t bother to worry about important things…like, learning in school.
This is better than watching “Talking To Americans” on the Rick Mercer Report.
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I would like to see a poll taken to determine how many Canadians can find Nunuvut on a map or even know what a Nunuvut is.
My parents live in Nunuvut and you would not believe the number of people I tell this to who don’t know where that is. We even had to explain to the lady at the post office one day that we didn’t need an international stamp to send letter “within Canada”.
On the flip side, it is fun when we take advantage of “The Future Shops” free shipping anywhere in Canada. Someone forgot about the far north when they came up with that one. I’m not sure if they even break even when they send stuff to my parents.
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Good god that is the most confusing answer to a simple question I have ever heard.
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I didn’t hear a question in there about South Africa, what the hell was that answer all about?
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Quoting ErikH:
She had my head spinning there for a moment. I had to watch it a second time to figure out just what the heck she was saying!
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Quoting habsmike:
Priceless… Good to see another teacher on the board here. And Habs fan to boot? Awesome. We should go to Texas sometime and speak some french to them.
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I can only laugh at evil dumb people, not just-plain-dumb people, they are too pitiful, even when they’re beautiful … now, if someone had proof that she was a real bitch, then, I could have a laugh without guilt …
About the 1 in 5, perhaps Americans are only exposed to maps with just the US on them and have no geographic context. That would make sense since nobody else matters anyway.
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LIsten to her.
Isn’t it pretty obvious why?
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You know what the sad part of this is? She was quoting the president of that particular nation. ;)
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ummm…..shes sooo smart…its like listening to bush…..i hope she lost the contest right there….
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Wow. It’s sad when my preschoolers have got one up on 20% of the population. They can put together a puzzle of the US, correctly identify the country, and point to Indiana and say, “I live there.” A little guy whose mom’s a frequent business traveler even knows Canada’s above it - and he can’t even read!!
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Exuuuuuse me for this…but what the FUCK???? Can this chick even find the US on a map??? She sounds like a g*d damn retard… She can’t even talk… ” uh…and…um…yeah, so like….yeah…” Shut up. Did she even hear the question? Besides the question at hand- which IS in itself hard to comprehend - this chick didn’t even answer what was asked…Though she’ll never make it in politics- she has a certain common logic at hand..either avoid the question by making a completly different statement or act like an idiot by proving you don’t undertand what was asked in the first place. She completely rambled on about nothing except helping other counrties??? !!! What does that have to do with the effing question.?? Stupid barbie doll. I really hate to put down those who believe in these beauty pageants but she herself fits the damn stereotype… seriously, i am almost speachless. I wanna slap her. What an idiot.
I’m sorry i had nothing positive to say but this chick completely aggrevated me… okay, my rant is over. I need a drink. cheers!
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Quoting Roy El Saghir:
Oh lord help us….LOL!
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Quoting bunster10:
Exactly…i am sorry i couldn’t read the whole 64 comments above this one…but i was utterly confused..listened to it twice because i thought I was the idiot for a second and then, well i just shook my head. Just what the F***? I think if i even listened to this a third time i wouldn’t understand her.
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Quoting Roy El Saghir:
She represents AT LEAST 20% of the population that SHOULD NOT be allowed to reproduce.
I’m sad….
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Quoting Joseph M:
…or how many can actually spell “Nunavut”…
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Shaking my head watching this and thinking that I have wasted two minutes watching this blonde prove to me that no matter how pretty the package is on the outside, the gift inside is total shit.
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What’s a nunuvut?
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Quoting moonwire:
It used to be called a Bob.
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Quoting moonwire:
I believe it’s a type of berry.
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it is a place in canada, I hear its very cold and no WiFi.
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Simple question? That’s an ass stupid question. How the hell is some girl in Miss Teen USA supposed to know why some supposed “poll” came out the way it did. That’s just a dumb question.
There really is no better accuracy — a poll no less — than information in a question at the Miss Teen USA pageant. But hey, let’s all bash American on this one. WEEE!
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Debn8r,
Interestingly enough, when you a do a google search for nunuvut you get just as many relevant hits as if you search for nunavut. Even the University of Victoria has it spelt with a u when describing thier masters in aboriginal studies.
That being said,
You were right,
I was wrong,
should be an a
My bad,
Joe
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WTF did she just say???—-huh?? I’ve got a NYState public education and she lost me with her answer, but hey I bet she has a great personality.
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I saw in an article once that George W. Bush, thinks that there are no oceans surrounding Canada.
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It’s a good thing they didn’t hit her with a really tough question like:
“What colour is an ORANGE?”
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It follows then, that approx. 1 in 5 American beauty pageant contestants are declared “missing” following the event. The “1″ in this statistic makes it home alright because they had forgotten to take off their State sashes and thus use it for reference.
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Wow i bet you she couldnt even find South Carolina on a map let alone USA.. Gotta love them Americans
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omfg…Pretty birdy….
Actually, something I have found to be very entertaining in the past is watching shows like Family Feud. It never ceases to amaze me how dumb as rocks some people can be.
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Quoting Ashes the Dawn:
Yeah, but we all have our dumb moments.
Like this one time I was walking down the street and this guy asked me what the time was. I told him it was three thirty even though it was not.
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holy fucking shit I knew they were dumb but I didn’t know they were THAT dumb
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I’ll put money on her not being able to find US on the map of the world.
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This girl in my class couldn’t find Canada on a map of North America. Her excuse was that she thought it was a map of the world, and also that there weren’t any border lines on the map.
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That couldn’t understand a thing she said. Did she not understand the question? I don’t recall anythin mentioning South Africa or Iraq.
To be honest, that poll wouldn’t surprise me.
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Aww, come on. Doesn’t she at least deserve a pat on the head and a cookie?
Seriously though, some people should just never have microphones placed in front of them.
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matt. i was offended by your title.
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Er….. was anyone actually able to follow what she was saying?
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Wish I could say I was surprised, but I talk to Americans on a daily basis.
Well, write to them, I do support at eBay.
The average American adult writes at a 5th grade level. No joke.
I get to sort through absolutely frightening grammatical atrocities like, “Hi. I Dan. I want buy things. How?”
Having said that, the idea that 1/5 of Americans cannot find their own country on a map should be more surprising than it is.
How terrible is that?
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What in the world! what did South Africa and Iraq have to do with the question proposed???
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Oh wow, thats awful.
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It’s also kind of sad that she’s probably just a young person who maybe still has some growing up to do but is trying to make an honest living, and now she’s being ripped apart for a dumb thing she said while she was being filmed in front of a huge audience on national TV. If I were in her position, I’d be so nervous I wouldn’t be able to finish a sentence.
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I figure that Miss America should probably be able to locate her country of title on a map, and at least be able to bullshit her way through a 2 minute explanation.
Perhaps something like this
…I feel that although we have made great strides in our education system that a few of my fellow Americans may not have had the same advantages of a thorough education as myself, and the other 4 of five you speak of -and I hope that with my reign I can spread more awareness about the value of an education…
etc etc…
that took me literally two seconds…and see? alll bullshit.
I also think that if they had paid more attention to world issues, and their intellectual abilites rather than just the swim suit and talent portion of the show then they may have been a bit more eloquent or…coherent…
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Her age, and or nervousness, should not be an excuse for simple stupidity. She has probably been groomed for this position, or at least gone through the motions. She has had to speak in front of large groups of people before, i would imagine, to get to where she is. There is no excuse for being plain stupid.
And emma, lighten up. Those were the words that i was saying even as i watched the clip, and would have said to myself had Matt not chosen them for the title. Oh my fucking god indeed.
I didn’t know labotomy was part of the pagent.
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And I thought I rambled too much.
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dont know if many of you live in far regions..
but as i watch the sun rizing over the sea and mountains,i can definatly understand how one would not wish to know anything else about anyone else in the world.
point is,its about choices.knowledge can be good or bad.depends what you do with it.
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Ughhhh
…….
Just UGHH
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thats so sad. and she answered it without hesitation.
its to the left, your cant miss it
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i hear in the talent portion of the event she peeled a banana without using her hands.
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hahahaha… thats just wrong
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“The Iraq” — haha. “The Iraq is unstable!” (Search it)
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Holy fuck- i had to replay that a couple of times- .. “because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps..”
What to say??? I am so smart, S-M-R-T. Holy fuck.
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Just remember, when life gets you down and you think there’s no point in carrying on…there’s always You Tube and people like that that makes life worth living.
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What’s a map ????
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Matt — since when did you start apologizing for swearing? ;)
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It should be noted that when that speech was given Miss South Carolina was one of five finalists. She finished forth in the competition. Which means that despite not being able to string together a sentence that made any sense, she beat someone. That other girl must look really bad in an evening gown.
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“U.S. Americans”
Even Mario Lopez was cringing.
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and everywhere such as, umm, and everything, and such as,
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this is surprising
their beer isnt strong enough to make them stupid
how the hell does this happen
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do they not realize they print the names of countries on maps?
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I’m amused that so many believed in this statistic without even knowing if it was correct. One person attempted to verify the poll but was unable to do so. Did this give pause to all the America bashers? No…….Does this mean 100% of Canada’s citizens are gullable and will believe anything they are told? Such meanness from some of you towards Americans does not bode well for problem solving. If your idea of being hip and world aware is to act as a herd, trashing all things American……. well……..at least you’ll always have hockey. :)
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I wish I was shocked but I live in Eastern North Carolina, US America and I talk to people every day that aren’t very bright.
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Reminds me of the time I was sitting in a bar in LA and the waitress asked me where I was from. “England” I said. To which she replied “Wow, is that like, IN London?”…
Not to say that we don’t have our far share of numptys over here - just look at this years Big Brother as an example!
…Has anyone seen the new Korn video for ‘Evolution’? Nice bit of social commentary if you ask me.
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Quoting Robert R:
Although I will admit to not being an overly big fan of America, I agree that US-bashing has just become the cool, hip thing to do among Canadian youth. We love to laugh and make fun of those “dumb Americans”, not realizing that we’re at about the same intellectual level as they are. I don’t feel especially guilty since Canada is made the butt of just as many jokes on American television, but I’m not so naive as to think that the average Canadian is much, if any, smarter than the average American. If we are, then it’s most likely due to differences in poverty, rather than some genetic superiority.
Will I still make occasional jokes and criticisms about Americans? Of course, but I try to keep them as just that, without the need to assert my superiority.
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just to respond quickly to comment above….I was raised in Poverty…I am also a survivor of child abuse and a child of addiction…and my GPA when entering college was a 4.0 (no bullshit)…I don’t think that poverty has any DIRECT bearing on a person’s level of education., nor do I think it’s a genetic predisposition (in this case)…At some point people have got to stop blaming external forces for their lack of an education, and start taking responsibility for it on their own…so the American school system may not have been up to snuff…but, yes, maybe emotional or mental issues have created study problems for some, or maybe some have simply chosen to drop out of school…some parents still believe home schooling their children is best…and often there is no real schooling that goes on because their is a lack of formality when learning in the home…however, I also believe that we as human beings in an individualistic society have the power to walk into a library any time we wish, and continue to learn whether we are in high school or not. There is no excuse (except for the medical variety) for people to discontinue educating themselves…it’s not so much a lack of intelligence in the states as it is a laziness.
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She attempts to redeem herself on the Today show.
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just to add a bit to my above comment…I am referring to poverty in First World Countries…because yes, in Third World Countries there is a direct correlation between poverty and literacy rates…so lets keep that in mind when reading:)
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http://mapsforus.org/
heh….
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That was a pretty dumb question though you have to admit. What kind of answer would be a good answer to that question? No clue! I wonder what other kinds of questions they asked….hopefully they were better.
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what’s troubeling is how matthew good is so attracted to dumb chicks, then i suppose he is a man like any other man. But it’s still confuising for me.
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Nothingman…….well, you seem to get my point, fun is fun, but meanness is just mean. (and thank you for being sensistive re your supir…supere….superiority.)
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I thought those models were supposed to have brains too. You know to help their brains, and other models, and the asian countries, and uhh…uhh….hmm…. *munches on crispy minis*
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It would be so much funnier if she wins
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Jimmy Kimmel explains her answer much better here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aR75L08SBHo
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hahaHA. I heard this on the jeff o’neil morning show…. freakin harilous yet freakin sad at the same time
god love her response… “for the childeren” HAHAHA
actually, out of however many people… she either came in 11th or 5th…. something like that… again good hard laugh at that.
typical north america… it just shows that you can get by here with just looks alone. thats friggin rediclous
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this just in… FOURTH PLACE! you gotta be fuckin joking me.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-08-28-miss-south-carolina_N.htm
btw. that jimmy k link does it justice.
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last post.
who came in last place then?
about matts post… yes matt.. thats just how brutal U.S’s schooling stytem is. there highschools are the pitts. (my friend tells me that the universitys are much better- I claim B.S… they simply have a higher name being its america)
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Quoting PeterL:
hahaha……….I think you should have been crowned Miss America.
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Quoting Hunting in Darkness:
Did you really just type that so jam packed full of spelling errors and incorrect hymonym usage and expect it to reflect Canadian schools are so much better? I never feel as patriotic as when I’m sitting around a bunch of Canadians. You guys can have the attitude of the elitest clique that sits at their own table making fun of the rest of the kids at lunch…in reality because the rest of the kids don’t even notice you at all. Anyway, you should really drop the attitude…it’s really not becoming because your country is pretty on in every other way.
Anyway, I highly doubt the statistic but who watches Miss Teen America and is concerned with little things like facts?
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the SPAWN of BUSH!!!
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Terrible =l