This tranquil community on the edge of Los Angeles has become a cursing-free zone.
Under a City Council proclamation approved on Wednesday, those who use profanity or make rude gestures could find themselves shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glances of South Pasadena residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.
"That's one of the purposes of this," Mayor Michael Cacciotti said of his city's proclamation designating the first week of March as No Cussing Week. "It provides us a reminder to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse."
The proclamation was to be in effect until yesterday, and then the first week of every March hereafter.
South Pasadena, a tranquil city of tree-shaded cottages at the base of a mountain range a few kilometers north of downtown Los Angeles, is not the first to try to rein in potty mouths.
Earlier this year, the St Louis suburb of St Charles, Missouri, proposed banning swearing in bars. Last year, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called for an industrywide ban on racially and sexually charged epithets.
But what is different about the latest push is that it was proposed by a 14-year-old boy.
TEENAGE INITIATOR
"My mom and dad always taught me good morals, good values and not cussing was one of them," said McKay Hatch, the founder of South Pasadena High School's No Cussing Club, during a break recently between study hall and tennis practice.
"I've cussed before, I'm not gonna lie to you," he quickly said. "But I try not to cuss any more."
He was in junior-high school when he became fed up with all the blue language around him.
He understood why his friends use foul language: "They just want to fit in like everybody else and they don't know how." But it wasn't for him.
"I finally told my friends, `I don't cuss.' And I said, `If you want to hang out with me, you don't cuss,'" Hatch said.
SCHOOL CLUB
It took a couple of years, but enough friends finally came around that Hatch formed a 50-member club, handed out fliers and called the group's first meeting, held June 1.
Nine months later, the No Cussing Club has a Web site, claims a membership of 10,000 and boasts chapters in several states and countries. Hatch considers his greatest achievement, though, to be getting his hometown of 25,000 to become a cuss-free zone.
Cacciotti noted that South Pasadena broke off from its much bigger neighbor 120 years ago when residents unhappy with the saloon trade in downtown Pasadena voted 85 to 25 to go their own way.
LIMITED IMPACT
By midweek, however, it was unclear just how many people in South Pasadena knew about the no-cussing edict.
A clerk behind the counter at Buster's Ice Cream & Coffee Shop just laughed and said, "That sounds pretty funny."
David Salcedo, who manages High Life Burgers, a popular hangout near the high school, hadn't heard of it either.
But, come to think of it, he said, the language among the after-school crowd has been pretty clean lately. The biggest problem these days, Salcedo said, is kids talking too loudly.
Hatch hopes his No Cussing Club will lead to cuss-free zones in other cities.
"You have to start with the little things," he said.
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