I wonder if these are the products of our "no child left behind"philosophy.                                          

 And these are the ones that should have been left behind.  So sad. So true.                                          

 A DC airport ticket agent offers some example of 'why' our country is in                                             

 trouble!                                                                                                             

 1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near   

 the window. (On an airplane!)                                                                                        

 2. I got a call from a candidate's staffer, who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the     

 flight and the passport information, then she interrupted me with, ''I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but     

 Capetown is in Massachusetts '' Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, ''Cape Cod is in         

 Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.''                                                                              

 Her response - click.                                                                                                

 3. A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida  package  we did. I asked what was wrong with the    

 vacation in Orlando. He said he was  expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since     

 Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, ''Don't lie to me, I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin 

 state!'' (OMG)                                                                                                       

  4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife who asked, ''Is it possible to see England from                              

 Canada ?''                                                                                                           

 I said, ''No.''                                                                                                      

 She said, ''But they look so close on the map.'' (OMG, again!)                                                       

  5. An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the        

 reservation, I noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car, he      

 said, ''I heard Dallas was a big Airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save  time.'' (Arghhhh)   

 6. An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit   

 left at 8:30 a.m., and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois but she   

 couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.         

 7. A New York lawmaker called and  asked, ''Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so  they know      

 whose luggage  belongs to whom?''                                                                                    

 I said, 'No, why do you ask?'                                                                                        

 She replied, ''Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said (FAT), and I'm       

 overweight. I think that's very rude!'' After putting her on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was       

 laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno, CA is (FAT - Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline    

 was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.                                                                   

 8. A Senator's aide called to inquire about a trip  package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she       

 asked, ''Would it be cheaper to fly to California, and then take the train to                                        

 Hawaii ?''                                                                                                           

 9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, ''How do I know which plane to get on?''          

 I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ''I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these      

 planes have numbers on them.''                                                                                       

 10. A lady Senator called and said, ''I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola,  Florida. Do I have to get on one of those little 

 computer planes?''                                                                                                   

 I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola, FL on a commuter plane. She said, ''Yeah,  whatever,                          

 smarty!''                                                                                                            

 11. A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a       

 lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa. 'Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many   

 times and never had to have one of those.                                                                            

 '' I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said,  ''Look, I've been to   

 China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!''                                            

 12. A New Mexico Congress woman called to make reservations, ''I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York. '' I    

 was at a loss for words.                                                                                             

 Finally, I said, ''Are you sure that's the name of the town?''                                                       

 ''Yes, what flights do you have?'' replied the lady.                                                                 

 After some searching, I came back  with ''I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in                     

 the country and  can't find a Rhino anywhere.                                                                        

 ''The lady retorted, ''Oh, don t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!''                             

 So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ''You don't mean Buffalo,                           

 do you?'' The  reply?                                                                                                

 ''Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.''                                                                            

 Could anyone be this DUMB?