Recently, PZ Myers linked to an article about a Texas town that had adopted "Heaveno" as a substitute greeting for "Hello." I don't think he realized that the article was from 1997.
But, I got to wondering whatever happened to that. So, I did some digging.
First, I found an informative website that shows (besides the cheesy graphics) the background behind the greeting (gets it wrong), the resolution that was adopted, a proclamation to the guy who started the whole idea there, and the proposal that started it all. Still, there was nothing in there about what happened after the adoption of "Heaveno." I had to make some calls.
A call to the mayor's office went unanswered. When I got through to the County Clerk's office, the woman I spoke to stated that no one actually says it. A call to the County Parks and Recreation department was met with the same information. I next called the library, thinking that they might be able to shed some light, and I spoke to a nice man who told me that it was no more than a passing fad. At the time, some people did say it, but not for very long, and it never really caught on. Now, he informed me, no one says it.
(As a humorous aside, I said, "I suppose old habits die hard." His reply was that they don't like change down in Texas.)
The nice man at the library suggested I call the Kingsville, TX Chamber of Commerce. So, I did. Alas, there was no additional information to be found there. I think I have to conclude that "Heaveno" really was just a fad, and the citizens rightly have thrown it onto the dustbin of bad ideas.
I do want to state that everyone I talked to was very nice, very helpful, and very open and willing to speak to me. They sound like wonderful people down there and I'm glad that they don't say "Heaveno."
3 comments:
Heaveno hardly rolls off the tongue. It's no wonder it didn't actually catch on. I'd prefer something corny like "greetings" said in robotic monotone over something like "heaveno".
Great job with the research, sir. You're a blogger who acts like a journalist, I'd like to shake your hand.
Also, I'm not surprised that most of the people were nice, I think what most of us in the atheist community find is that theists are rarely bad people, just people living with and pushing bad ideas.
Oh, agreed Billyist. Most people try to be good people, regardless of their (non)beliefs.
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