The Joys of Being Boring

Several years ago, Forbes magazine had an article on the Ten Most Boring Cities.  Which places marited this dubious claim to fame:  Chula Vista, CA, Chandler, AZ, North Las Vegas, NV, Bakersfield, CA, Aurora, CO made the list, as well as a few other dull places.  You can read it here, if you are okay about slide shows:

http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/10/media-newspapers-news-biz-media-cx_jz_1210boringcities.html

As contrasted with Detroit, New Orleans, Washington, and a number  of other places recognizable without state suffixes, this may not be a bad thing, as places often get into the news for the wrong reasons.  Thinking about the Forbes list, the ones on it seem to be moderately sized (by Southern standards, at least), be near or suburbs of more prominent cities  (It's hard to compete with your neighbor if it's Las Vegas or Los Angeles), and have increased population recently so as not to have an extensive history.

I'm surprised that Shreveport did not make the list.

However, I must quibble with the Forbes criterion:  Is not often making the news really boring?  Is that a legitimate usage when talking about other possible instances of boredom?

Obviously, most boring student is a term never encountered in schools.  In that setting, more emphasis is bestowed on the academic stars, the athletes, the cutest, the most troublesome, and the most menacing.  The garden variety kid gets overlooked.   

For example, who would be the most boring NFL quarterback?  It certainly would not be a leader of a Super Bowl-bound team, or one who is demonstratably religious.  It possibly could be a singularly inept player, though.  When the New York Mets baseball team emerged from the primal ooze, they supposedly were legendary in their clumsiness. But, they were not boring!

Or, what was the most boring movie?  I'm sure everyone has his or her own opinion on this.  Consult rottentomatoes.com for some possibilities.  Or most boring television show?  Just play television remote roulette!

Let's go esoteric.  Who is the most boring anime girl?  I'll bet she does not wear a sexy superheroine costume or have interesting superpowers!

When it comes to food, we employ the term "comfort food."  This is typically food that is high in carbs, not highly seasoned, and food associated with your childhood or place of origin.  Some people might call it "boring" but your feelings toward it do not fall into that category.  Sometimes it's nice not to be challenged.

And we should never forget that boring can sometimes be a good thing.  Consider the most boring politician.  Now this fellow might not be a media darling since he gives little for them to write on; but he serves responsibly, does not say dumb things, has no extramarital flings or scandals, promotes beneficial legislation, and gets along with people of the other party.  To my way of thinking, this is a desirable trait.  And I would support a candidate of either party that was like this.

I dimly recall that one of the Republican nomination contenders fit this; or perhaps it was because he didn't make the news much except for a brief mention.

Obviously, it won't get him or her into the Presidency; but perhaps the constituents are well-served just by someone doing his job.

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I'm sorry; but I had to re-install Word Verification because my blog was starting to get a lot of ads in the replies.  I wish it wasn't this way; but they were beginning to clutter and some I was not sure of their content.
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So, returning to the concept of "boring cities."  A small town in Oregon apparently got the spirit of this.  To make their point crystal clear, they even named it Boring.  It's not far away from the irredeemably interesting Portland.