It turns out theresa国际传媒檚 a sa国际传媒淔lorida Mansa国际传媒� in all of us.

A social media challenge is encouraging people to look up what version of Florida Man they are based on their birthdays.

Florida Man has become shorthand for a unique brand of news story mined from the Sunshine State that usually involves guns, drugs, booze or reptiles sa国际传媒� often in startling combination.

The challenge asks people to run their birthday and sa国际传媒淔lorida Mansa国际传媒� through a search engine to find out which Florida Man headline pops up. Then, like all good things, they must post the result on social media.

The challenge has become a social media sensation, which isnsa国际传媒檛 surprising given that the Florida Man concept crept into the nationsa国际传媒檚 consciousness with the @_FloridaMan Twitter account in 2013.

The Twitter account, with the tagline sa国际传媒淩eal-life stories of the worldsa国际传媒檚 worst superhero,sa国际传媒� has been home to recent headlines such as sa国际传媒淔lorida Man Fire Bombs Garage That Impounded His Car, Hits His Own Vehiclesa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒淔lorida Man Tried to Pay for McDonaldsa国际传媒檚 With Weed.sa国际传媒�

The less common, but no less noteworthy, sa国际传媒淔lorida Womansa国际传媒� subgenre has produced headlines such as sa国际传媒淎 Florida woman was arrested and charged with aggravated assault without intent to kill after she reportedly sa国际传媒榝arted loudlysa国际传媒� in a Dollar Store and then pulled a knife on a man who complained.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淥nce, it seemed as though all the weird people and stories came from California. But over the past decade, it shifted to Florida,sa国际传媒� said Jim Clark, a lecturer in the University of Central Floridasa国际传媒檚 history department. sa国际传媒淣ow, when I see a bizarre story, I am surprised when it is not from Florida.sa国际传媒�

A combination of factors helps Florida birth these astounding tales.

For starters, itsa国际传媒檚 the nationsa国际传媒檚 third largest state, with more than 20 million residents, and a random sample of any population that large is guaranteed to produce its share of the outrageous. Florida is also blessed with a liberal public records law that allows these stories to surface into plain view with little resistance or concern about taste.

And then theresa国际传媒檚 the combination of subtropical temperatures, palm trees and endless blue skies that seems to inspire some people to shed all inhibitions. Under the right circumstances, couldnsa国际传媒檛 we be tempted to follow in the footsteps of sa国际传媒淣aked Florida man revealed on video sneaking into restaurant and munching on ramensa国际传媒�?

Mike Schneider, The Associated Press

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