Where are we anyways?

It never ceases to puzzle me how much I run across such vague terms every time I read from an American generated Newspaper. I guess people who are writing for the paper, somehow think we automatically know what they are talking about immediately. I mean, don't you already understand?

In one particular section for Halloween in the Washington Post today, the writer assumes we already know which Washington they are speaking of. Just imagine how lost other people are if I am not the only one with this problem. I'm not sure if this is a marketing ploy or a real boo-boo on their part to further loose readers.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one who knows which Washington Halloween bashes they are speaking of when they really mean Washington D.C. and not just Washington state. Maybe they don't care who their readers are, be it foreign or not. But they sure are loosing a lot of potential readers from their work as a result of speaking so vaguely.

Finally after reading a few paragraphs I figure out the Washington they are speaking of is close to PA. I'm glad I knew where we were, but just vaguely. Assuming you know the lingo in a certain area of the world may create a problem for your readers too.

Maybe it's a marketing lesson for all of us to learn. I'm sure they've lost their captive readers within the first 8 seconds. I'll just remember next time I am the writer to make sure I'm not loosing my target audience to a real boo-boo like that.