Washington. No, not that one.

Let’s talk about Washington, shall we? Not DC or Denzel, not politicians or cash money. Let’s talk about the Pacific Northwest, and more specifically, why it can be so challenging to find information about the state online.

If you begin to type ‘Washington’ in a Google search you get ‘post’ and ‘DC’ as your first two options, with ‘state’ coming in just before ‘redskins’. I can handle the number three ranking, but typing Washington State brings a whole new set of challenges because you now have to avoid references to the university. People inside the state don’t get confused because they refer to the capital as Washington DC, or simply DC. Those of us outside the state are forced to decipher much of the time. This is what happens when you are the only state to name yourself after a president.

Americans often blame Washington for their problems. When I was a kid I used to wonder how one state could have such a bad reputation. I now know the state has never been blamed for much of anything, aside from being the birthplace of Glen Beck and making Google searches a little more confusing. My advice – search by city if you can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(U.S._state)