It was a ________ observation

[emsr2d2]

The reason the emoji kept popping up is that the combination of letters and symbols we were all trying to type happens, unfortunately, to be the shortcut for the thumbs down emoji. The solution is to say that the original question is "It was a/an observation ...".

 

[SoothingDave]

Both "ordinary" and "commonplace" would work, but, ironically, "ordinary" is the better choice because it is more commonplace.