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The Huffington Post Ron Dicker First Posted: 03/20/13 EDT Updated: 03/20/13 EDT
Screaming "bingo" was his shame-o.
Comparing the act to yelling "fire" in a crowded theater, a police officer cited an 18-year-old man for falsely yelling "bingo" in a Covington, Ky., parlor, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Austin Whaley was slapped with a disorderly conduct charge and then ordered by a judge last week to refrain from uttering the word "bingo" for six months.
According to the report, Whaley entered a bingo hall packed with mostly elderly women on Feb. 6. The man yelled "bingo," and his actions disrupted the game for several minutes because players thought they had lost, the paper wrote. Whaley was asked to apologize to the angry patrons, but his refusal prompted an officer to take action.
Visit the Cincinnati Enquirer to read what the officer had to say.
News outlets, of course, jumped on the story.
MSN wrote, "Never get between old ladies and their bingo," while the Daily Beast referred to Whaley as "the boy who cried bingo?"
However, bingo theft is usually a bigger problem than falsely calling "bingo."
Husband-and-wife schoolteachers in the Denver area were fired in May for allegedly stealing $25,000 from bingo fundraisers, CBS4 reported at the time.
In addition, a mother and daughter are accused of taking $700,000 in bingo proceeds from a fire department in Swoyersville, Pa, according to the Times Leader.
But the women in this article probably broke the first rule of bingo, never tear up your cards, and clear your boards until the judge declares 'that's a good bingo.'
That probably more accurately describes the event - not just calling out BINGO - but we don't have any real reporters left anymore.
I find it ridiculous to compare this to screaming "fire" in a theatre. Did anyone trample for the door? Did screaming, panicky chaos ensue? Really, y'all.
Get a grip people, this is a complete waste of time and tax payer money. Could the hall not have simply banned the person and got on with their lives? Did we really need to tie up police time and court room time and money on something this ignorant and petty? Think about the big picture. Not only was the officer's time spent on this at the time but also to show up in court. The Judge's time, the court stenographer's time, clerks time processing the pre-trial, post trial etc paper work, workers at lein processing the info into the network etc.
This should be the poster case for gross incompetence in our legal system and government waste. This tiny petty thing cost a lot of money and time.