Technology has brought many gifts, but it has given me a basic dislike for Tennessee. Don’t get me wrong. Tennessee is a lovely place. I have been to Memphis and Knoxville and probably some other places I can’t readily remember. The people are nice and the food is good, but I wouldn’t shed a tear if they seceded or changed the state name.

Why? Because Tennessee precedes Texas in a drop down box. Anytime I am ordering something online (which is admittedly often) and have to fill out my address, Tennessee gets in the way. Instead of being able to simply type a “T” and move on, there is a 2 step process: “T” and THEN scroll down. Think of all of the time I would save if 1) I either lived in Tennessee or 2) Tennessee went away altogether. The first isn’t really an option. The second would probably require some paperwork. I suppose Montanans have it worse. (Or is it Montanites or Montanians?) All of those other M states do get in the way. Luckily there are only 14 people who live there, and they tend not to be complainers–otherwise they wouldn’t live there.

There is a third way, and I’m all about compromise. So, I hereby propose we change the spelling to Techsas. It’s the same principle as being AAA Auger in the phone book. It has benefits other than leapfrogging over hapless Tennessee. It’s still phonetic and could provide some primo marketing opportunities. I think we could even get Facebook to sponsor the change. Then you could check in all over the state at Facebook on Facebook. Or maybe they are checking in on you. It could get confusing, but would still save me time on nordstrom.com, which is all we’re after anyway.