I think Florida gets that reputation because of how our Freedom of Information laws are. It was always easy for Reuters or the AP to just pull some Florida news story off the wire as filler. And on top of that, stories about someone throwing an alligator into a Wendy's drive-thru window get more attention. Thus, Florida Man was born.

I can understand your reluctance to call someone's dad "Boy." ROFL I'm in the habit of calling people (Fox's parents for example) Mr. Paul and Ms. Linda.