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| Each week our Boomer-in-Charge, Hershel Chicowitz, has something to say about life, society, or what's going on... from the perspective of a baby boomer. This is what's on his mind the week of August 17: |
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I was just thinking...
I have been amused - and plagued - by nicknames for most of my life. A lot of us are not satisfied with the name on our birth certificate. We spend our entire life running away from the name our parents deemed proper for us.
In my case, the journey has gone backwards. My father was also Hershel. But as soon as I began talking, my parents realized that they had an identification problem in the making. When someone called for Hershel, to whom would they be referring, me or my father? So they began calling me by a nickname. Now, why this dilemma did not occur to them when they filled out my birth certificate... I have no earthly idea. After all, my birth could not have come as a surprise to them. My father was a physician, for crying out loud; they had nine months to work on it. Anyway, they wisely decided that being saddled with "Junior" for the rest of my life was not a good idea. So from out of the mouths of babes (or, in this particular case, one babe: my older sister), came "Bud." Apparently my sister had trouble pronouncing "brother"; the best she could do was "buther," or, when her mouth was full - which was most of the time - "bud." So for the rest of my life, my family, and everyone in the immediate neighborhood, will call me "Bud" - all because my sister had a slight, temporary pronunciation problem.
I guess it could have been worse - I could have been named Beaver Cleaver.... or Lumpy Rutherford.
When I started school, my mother decided that "Hershel" was too formal and "Bud" was too informal; so she listed my name as "Hersh." That's what they called me at school. One day in third grade we were asked to fill out an official form that was going to Washington (and eventually to the White House files, I now presume); they told us to make certain we entered our real name on the form. Well, this drove me nuts. I had to be excused so I could go home and ask my mother what my name was. Nine years old and I didn't even know my own name.
Many, many years later, when I went into business for myself, I decided that I should stress formality. So I had "Hershel" printed on my business cards. After all, my father had been dead for 15 years; I doubted there was any risk of confusion. So today, it's back to Hershel. That's my name and I'm sticking to it.
Commercial product names are interesting, too. I'm not sure where the name "Coca-Cola" came from, but its nickname, Coke, is the most recognized name and logo in the world, its connection to the illegal drug of the same name notwithstanding. Other products have not been as fortunate. In the seventies there was a diet candy called "Ayds." A couple of Ayds a day and you're sure to lose weight. As far as I know, Ayds died a slow death in the eighties.
A few years ago there was a street in a wealthy community in northern California called "Gay Drive." Many residents were uncomfortable with that name, so they voted to change it. But the gay community across the country felt outraged and insulted, so they took the Gay Drive residents to court: gay versus Gay - a good time was had by all. The Gays won, and renamed their street "High Eagle Court." But the gay community missed the next move completely. Right after the court defeat, a gay spokesman should have held a news conference and said, "We are tired of the misuse and overuse of the word 'gay' to identify our people. We feel it is not adequately reflective of our community. Henceforth, we insist that we be referred to as the 'high eagles.'"
As a kid, my favorite baseball team was the Cleveland Indians; the players were members of the "tribe." Even in the politically correct nineties, the name has stuck. Clevelanders are very serious about their names. They let the football team slip out of their hands, but by golly, they held onto the name. The as-yet-unborn NFL franchise for Cleveland already has a name: the Browns.
A bunch of Native American Indians complained about the name of the Atlanta baseball team, the Braves. But when I saw both owner Ted Turner and wife Jane Fonda enthusiastically doing the tomahawk chop in the stands, I knew the Indians had lost another one. They gotta' learn to pick their battles more carefully.
Not so with the basketball team in Washington. The nickname "Bullets" is perhaps very appropriate for the murder capital of America, but I can see why it would make the chamber of commerce uneasy. Oh so many other nicknames come to mind, I don't know where to begin. So I'll leave it to your imagination.
Nobody from the University of Oklahoma should be allowed to graduate from there until they can explain what a "sooner" is.
My alma mater, the University of South Florida (USF), calls their teams the "Brahman Bulls" - never mind that nobody knows exactly what a braham bull is. It's husky; it's strong; it has two stomachs. Anyway, when I contributed to the sports scholarship fund, I became a Bull supporter. (A Bull supporter! Now I know what it feels like to be a Democrat.) Well, no big deal; let's just not let it become my nickname. But this week I received another solicitation from the alumni association. This letter... I swear to you... began: "Dear Fellow Bull."
Maybe we have carried this nickname thing just a little too far.
A Sooner checks in:
"The term 'Sooner' came from the land runs of the late 19th century here in Oklahoma. Actually there were 'Boomers' and 'Sooners'. A Boomer was a participant in the land runs. He or she was called a "Boomer due to the fact that they started the land runs with a gunshot, hence the name. A 'Sooner' was also a participant of the land runs, but he or she was called a 'Sooner' because they would sneak out sometime before, of "sooner" than the rest to stake out the prime sights. In reality Alums of the University of Oklahoma are more accurately called 'Boomer Sooners'" - hrh
If you want to write more, we're open to offerings from other boomers. If you have something to say of interest to boomers, write it as well as you can in 500-800 words, and send it to us. We can't guarantee we'll publish it, but we'll surely consider it.
Hershel will have something else to say on Monday, August 24; mark your calendar to come back to BBHQ every Monday.
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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Copyright © 1998-2003 Baby Boomer HeadQuarters (BBHQ) All rights reserved.
rev. 08/19/98