News traveled fast about the woman who was tossed out of BPA for uttering “boring” during a symphony performance.
Once I put it up on this blog, the Associated Press grabbed it and put it on the wire. Fastest in the West was the Wenatchee World, which had it up first (even before the Kitsap Sun’s main site). In short order, it was reprinted in the Bellingham Herald, the Olympian, Tacoma News Tribune, Seattle Times and other papers. TV and radio stations in Seattle and Portland soon followed suit.
The magazine Seattle Met advocated for more witty heckling and the Seattle P-I expressed sympathy for the woman.
“Really, who hasn’t been bored to tears at a concert, recital, or school play?” wrote the P-I’s Vanessa Ho.
Out of state, the story popped up in San Antonio, a small paper in Indiana, Washington D.C.s Examiner and Toronto’s Globe and Mail. Even CBS News put it on their website.
KIRO radio’s Dave Ross and Luke Burbank spent quite a bit of time discussing the issue. They even tracked down the symphony’s program and played various clips to see which tune could have sparked the “boring” comment. Listen to their discussion here.
Best of all, though, was the blotter item’s appearance as a quiz show question on National Public Radio’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
When quizzed about why the woman had been removed, panelist Mo Rocca guessed it must have been for passing gas. Burbank (who also happened to be a panelist) showed off some of his research, surmising that the boring comment must have come after Bizet’s Carmen Suit, which he insisted is anything but boring (as Tom & Jerry can attest to).
“So the woman was both rude and not musically accurate,” Burbank said.
You can listen to the “Wait, Wait” symphony bit below. It’s at the 1:07 minute mark.