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There's a "new" Mexico?

'stache

By 'stache
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'stache

'stache 21,825

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Couple forced to prove that New Mexico is a state while applying for marriage license

LAS CRUCES - Gavin Clarkson, a recent candidate for New Mexico secretary of state, experienced a one-of-our-50-is-missing moment earlier this month when applying for a marriage license in the nation's capital.

Clarkson, who lives in Las Cruces, and his then-fiancée visited the District of Columbia Courts Marriage Bureau on Nov. 20 to apply for a marriage license. 

But, once there, the couple encountered a small problem, Clarkson said. The clerk wouldn't accept Clarkson's driver's license — from New Mexico — as proof of his identity. Rather, the clerk, who mistakenly believed Clarkson was a foreign citizen — said he would have to provide an international passport to get the marriage license.

After Clarkson objected, the clerk went to check with a supervisor, who confirmed Clarkson would need a passport.

"You know you are from flyover country when you are applying for a marriage license, give them your New Mexico driver's license, and they come back and say: 'My supervisor says we cannot accept international driver's licenses. Do you have a New Mexico passport?'" Clarkson posted on Facebook recently.

Speaking with the Sun-News about the incident, Clarkson said the clerk went back to check a second time about whether she could accept a New Mexico driver's license as proof of identify. After that, the personnel finally concluded New Mexico was in fact a U.S. state and accepted his driver's license along with the application.

Clarkson, who has called New Mexico home since 2012, said he's heard about the state's residents experiencing such incidents when traveling, but "it was the first time it happened to me."

"She thought New Mexico was a foreign country," he said of the clerk. "All the couples behind us waiting in line were laughing."

Clarkson's wife, Marina, immigrated from Argentina in the 1990s, becoming a legal permanent resident and then a naturalized U.S. citizen. She speaks English fluently, though she has a slight accent. But the clerk complimented Clarkson, not Marina, on how well he spoke the language. He said his wife was in disbelief, wondering: "Why are you complimenting him on his English?"

he incident took about 20 minutes altogether, and the clerk kindly apologized for the error, Clarkson said. While it was an annoyance at the time, looking back, he and his wife see the humor in it. The couple's wedding ceremony — which also took place in Washington, D.C., where his wife lives — took place without any problems.

"Everything else went fine, but it was a comical moment in the whole process," he said.

Notably, Clarkson is also an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation. If he'd shown that ID to the marriage bureau, he said, it could have cleared up the confusion over his identity.

"Apparently it would have been easier if I'd shown her my tribal ID," he said.

The D.C. courts system acknowledged the staff error in response to a call from the Sun-News.

"We understand that a clerk in our Marriage Bureau made a mistake regarding New Mexico's 106-year history as a state," said Leah H. Gurowitz, director of media and public relations for D.C. Courts, in an email. "We very much regret the error and the slight delay it caused a New Mexico resident in applying for a DC marriage license."

New Mexico gained statehood on Jan. 6, 1912. 

Clarkson is not alone in his experience applying for a marriage license. In a regular feature dubbed "One of Our 50 is Missing," New Mexico Magazine for years has documented with comedic flair New Mexicans' frustrations and trials in trying to persuade non-New Mexicans across the country — and sometimes the world — that New Mexico is in fact one of the 50 U.S. states.

The Clarksons have since celebrated their wedding with a reception in Texas, where Marina's family live; they plan to also have a reception in New Mexico.

Since the Nov. 6 election, Clarkson, who was the GOP's nominee for New Mexico secretary of state, said he's been in "recovery mode," but he's keeping his options open about what he'll do next. He does plan to stay in New Mexico.

https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/2018/11/29/las-cruces-resident-prove-new-mexico-statehood-washington-dc/2149376002/

 

 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105,181

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Somewhere, we have a newspaper clipping in a box (from back when newspaper clippings were a thing).  It was a story that my wife cracks up about to this day.  A guy in NM was trying to order tickets to an olympic event coming up in Atlanta (summer games 1996).  When he gave the gal on the phone his address, she replied "oh, I'm sorry -- this offer is only available to US residents and can only be sent to a US address.  If you want tickets to this event, you need to contact your own country's olympic committee."  He went back and forth explaining to her in some detail that NM was a state, its date of admission to the union, all that.  She eventually got a supervisor....who backed her up.  Exasperated, he remembered that he also had a PO box in Arizona.  He gave them that address, and they said "ok, we can send them there."

Stupid is timeless.

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6,224

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Putting myself through college, I worked mail/messenger for a law firm in D.C.  Was at the Capitol one day fetching some bills when a very nice old couple from Kansas (I find out) got on the elevator.

I asked, "what floor?"

They replied, "the one the White House is on." They were quite serious.

Taking a little pity on them, I replied eventually, "Oh that's just the one that they use on TV.  They closed it today because they have to clean the bathrooms. The real White House is down Pennsylvania about a mile.  They don't tell the public so it keeps the crowds down so the President can water his roses outside without being bothered. But they'll let you see it if you go down there and ask."

They said, "oh that's great news, thank you very much!"

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9,000

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21 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

Makes sense, I used to work at a company and one of the admin assistant needed the zip code for New Zealand. When told that is was a country, she insisted that is was up there with New York, New Hampshire and all the other New States.

The other side of the Tappan Zealand bridge.

We’re headed to New Mexico for Christmas.  Gonna see where Davy Crockett died at the great Alamogordo.

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45,695

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On 11/30/2018 at 7:16 PM, phdhorn said:

Putting myself through college, I worked mail/messenger for a law firm in D.C.  Was at the Capitol one day fetching some bills when a very nice old couple from Kansas (I find out) got on the elevator.

I asked, "what floor?"

They replied, "the one the White House is on." They were quite serious.

Taking a little pity on them, I replied eventually, "Oh that's just the one that they use on TV.  They closed it today because they have to clean the bathrooms. The real White House is down Pennsylvania about a mile.  They don't tell the public so it keeps the crowds down so the President can water his roses outside without being bothered. But they'll let you see it if you go down there and ask."

They said, "oh that's great news, thank you very much!"

Torbush

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  • 5 years later...
crash_davis

crash_davis 23,114

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Didn't want to create a new thread.

I guess this dude really hated his stepmom. The article is that clear but her son was graduating. As she went to hug him, the step-son shot her. From the pic, I guess the family had a few things to say to the shooter.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-mexico-man-shoots-stepmom-tried-give-him-hug-during-graduation-ceremony-police-say

Authorities said the woman was attending the Southwest Secondary Learning Center graduation for her son. Her stepson, Christian Bencomo, 21, arrived and "as she started to hug him, he produced a handgun and shot her in the neck," police said. 

Bencomo1-copy.jpg?ve=1&tl=1

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High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11,050

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7 minutes ago, 'stache said:

A 21 year old graduating from high school? I thought at that point it had to be a ged.

 

Its not a high school, its a 

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Secondary Learning Center 

 

probably some sort of place where the hard cases are sent after fighting, drugs, weapons at school etc. 

 

 

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