“Y’all better be careful going home!”

We just returned from visiting family in the southeast. While buying beer, a gas station cashier checked my Washington ID and confidently advised me that Seattle is an “extremely dangerous place.”
It wasn’t meant to be rude. I think she was earnestly trying to warn me… about my own hometown?
Maybe I’m just assuming, but lady, have you ever even traveled outside the county where you were born?
This isn’t new, just an unsettling reminder of the staying power of right-wing media on some folks.
Also, it’s hot as fuck there. Happy to be home.