Went to see Yo-Yo Ma last night at Symphony Hall. There were actually three featured composers, but only one cello concerto (by Schumann), so Yo-Yo was there for that. Originally, he was to play a work for cello and orchestra by Osvaldo Golijov, written expressly for the BSO’s 125th Anniversary, but Golijov is having writer’s block, so we’ll have to wait until August for that. Schumann was sandwiched between György Ligeti’s Concert Românesc and Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben.

We sat in the student section way back in the back, and were treated to a lively and at times revelatory conversation before the show and during intermission by the two young ladies sitting right behind us. It seemed there was one who was rather worldly, while the other had never been out of the sorority house.

Before the concert the first one, reading Ligeti’s bio in the program, says to the second one: “Ohmigod, his dad, like, died in Auschwitz.” Her friend was like, “ich, what’s that?” The first, betraying no surprise at the question, answered matter-of-factly: “It’s, like, this big concentration camp.” The second one giggled, and sounding somewhat relieved said (I shit you not): “Oh, I thought it was, like, some disease.”

That was the grand-prize jaw-dropper. But there were plenty of other gems throughout the night. Second place: “Ich! Who’s Yo Ma-Ma?” (this was my friend’s favorite). And third: when the lights came up for intermission and people were getting up to stretch their legs, the chick turns to her friend and says: “Is it intermission?”

I don’t want to sound like a cunt, here, but (and here is your QOTD): am I wrong to think there should be a minimum of cultural literacy, particularly among our middle classes? Am I wrong to be appalled by this young woman’s obliviousness? I mean, it’s perfectly possible she was just rescued from a basement where she’s been locked in a box since birth. But if not, what does it say about us, about our society and culture, when someone can reach adulthood and the reaction they have to “Auschwitz” is “Gesundheit!”?

What a world, what a world! We’re doomed, WE’RE DOOMED!