WHEN THIS HAPPENS, boo loudly.

Glenn Reynold has some good advice.

From "Safe Zones" By Jay Nordlinger about a concert he attended

Members of the quartet talked from the stage, talking from the stage being an epidemic of our times. And on the program was a new piece, by Kevin Puts. Before the quartet — the Miró Quartet — performed the piece, the composer gave a little lecture (bien sûr).



He explained that the Miró folks had asked him to write something optimistic about America — something lighthearted. But this was hard to do in 2007: because those were dark, terrible days. You remember, he said: like all days “before three days ago” (meaning, before the inauguration of Barack Obama). The audience erupted in a sustained cheer — just as always: in perfect, herd-like conformity. Not a dissenting mind in the bunch.



Or were there?

Glenn Reynolds suggests

WHEN THIS HAPPENS, boo loudly. Then buttonhole them unpleasantly later and complain about “insensitivity.” Don’t worry what they think about you, or whether you actually convince them of anything, just make sure the interaction is personally unpleasant enough that they’ll want to avoid such in the future. That’s how this sort of thing is done . . . .

I'm waiting for the opportunity.