I have found myself doing much traveling in the past six months for various reasons. I have noticed that some states really like each other, and some wish to be as far away from others as is possible. For example, when driving South on route 8 in Massachusetts, you will eventually come into one of the nation’s smaller states, Connecticut. The welcome sign for Connecticut while heading South, and, for Massachusetts heading North lie in the same general vicinity. This makes some sense, because this state line on this particular road is in the middle of nowhere [regardless, there is a distinct and substantial discontinuity between the road surfaces]. It seems that Connecticut and Massachusetts have a good relationship and will be caressing each other for many years to come.
The New York to Massachusetts border, however, is a different relationship altogether. Seems Massachusetts wanted all of the land up to the Hudson River, but New York was unwilling to compromise. In light of this, government officials have decided that there would have to be some shared land between the two, fearing dogs & cats living together, and general social unrest leading to a new civil war. This demilitarized zone is substantial, measuring over one mile in width. When I travel, I have no idea what state I am in when in this zone. I think I can probably speed comfortably through this area, because no police are allowed to cross into neutral territory. I really feel for the truck stops and gas stations in this emaciated area, for how could they ever get their mail?
I don’t like to pass blame on any one entity for this asynchronous land, but if I had to, I think two groups are highly suspect:
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox