Hey, New Jersey: Suddenly Scared You're of a Few Drones? Get Outta Here.

OF THE HUNDRED reasons I moved out of New Jersey, at least 90 of them were some form of "scared of people from New Jersey."

- JOEL STEIN

I spent 18 years cowering from the tough, fearless, scary people around me. One guy at my suburban gym wore a giant necklace that told everyone, in less polite terms, to lay off.

So it made no sense to me that the state is now afraid of drones.

My home state's brand is toughness. The state slogan is something a scary teen says before opening a locked freezer: "Come See for Yourself." The capital, Trenton, welcomes visitors with Hollywood-size letters stating "Trenton Makes. The World Takes," implying that someone will be sent to collect on that debt.

We're Tony Soprano, Frank Sinatra, Danny DeVito, and the cast of "Jersey Shore." Even our nerds are scary. To show how dangerous direct current was compared with his alternating current, Thomas Edison had his technicians stage and film the electrocution of a circus elephant.