News

By Julia Caulfield

If Telluride is making the news, it’s typically for skiing, or maybe a summer festival. But on Monday, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office stole the limelight. K-O-T-O’s Julia Caulfield has more…

It all started when a boulder fell onto highway 145, blocking eastbound traffic.

Susan Lilly, Public Information Officer for the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office, did what she typically does, and posted a warning on both Facebook and Twitter.

But there was a small mistake. NPR’s Steve Inskeep explained on Morning Edition…

“When a boulder fell on a Colorado highway, the San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office responded with a warning. A tweet said the road was blocked by ‘a large boulder the size of a small boulder’. They meant to say the size of a small car, but Twitter is unforgiving. One person offered thanks that it wasn’t a large boulder the size of a large boulder, and another named the rock, Biggie Smalls…” says Inskeep.

By Wednesday afternoon the tweet had been liked over 200 thousand times, with close to 40,000 retweets. That’s up from the 2 to 6 retweets Lilly says the Sheriff’s Twitter page typically gets for a post.

So what’s it like to be the person behind the viral tweet?

Lilly says, “At first I was embarrassed, ‘how could I do this? Oh my gosh’. I remember rereading and checking it, and of course my eyes say ‘small car’ not ‘small boulder’, so I thought all was good, until I realized it wasn’t. But now I’m just kind of entertained like the rest of you, but maybe in a slightly different way…you know, we wish we were that creative, to have used humor to get our message across, but it was, in fact, an error.”

The viral tweet inspired memes and witty retorts. One twitter user commented “Americans really will use any other system of measurement than metric, won’t they?” Another asked “Who would win in a fight? A large boulder sized small boulder or 20 small boulder sized large boulder?”

“I saw another that said, ‘I read it five times and every time I’m brought to tears laughing’. I don’t think it’s that funny, I think it’s kind of humorous, it’s kind of funny. But if you get pleasure out of that, then ‘you’re welcome’” Lilly says.

Looking for the silver lining, Lilly says the tweet has helped spread her original message.

Lilly notes, “Aside from providing people with cheap laughs, it was really an opportunity to push public safety information, like ‘watch out for boulders, watch out for obstacles in the road’. You know, we’re happy about that. If it reminds people to be a little more careful on the roadway, all is great. Especially since it came at no cost. No one was injured in making the tweet.”

Lilly says the Sheriff’s Office isn’t currently planning to memorialize the boulder in any way, but if you’re driving Highway 145 towards Telluride. Take a peek of the side of the road, and you may see a boulder. Known to some as Biggie Smalls.