Helven
Cidu Bill on Feb 15th 2010
Morris Keesan: I can’t think of any intended meaning of this that DOESN’T qualify for an Arlo Award.
Filed in Arlo Page, Bill Bickel, Dilbert, Scott Adams, comic strips, comics, comics that made us laugh out loud, humor, lol | 18 responses so far
David Feb 15th 2010 at 12:18 pm 1
The harp could be on fire. The harp presenter could say “Here’s your harp, idiot”. Hitler could hit him over the head with the harp while denying global warming.
Empress Penguin Feb 15th 2010 at 01:01 pm 2
You get a harp, but it has pitchforks on the ends and they stab you with it?
Elyrest Feb 15th 2010 at 02:16 pm 3
Although I can certainly think of many awful ways to deliver a harp, I’m pretty sure that Scott Adams had in mind what most of us have in mind.
Robert Feb 15th 2010 at 04:19 pm 4
The part that momentarily baffled me was that Helven started getting the outsourcing contracts _after_ the devils and angels unionized. Are G-d and the Devil trying to union-bust, or was the outsourcing part of the union contract?
And yes, that is a rather odd part for one to focus on.
Adam? Feb 15th 2010 at 05:40 pm 5
@Robert: I assumed it was unionbusting, since that’s a pretty common excuse for outsourcing services.
Dave Van Domelen Feb 15th 2010 at 05:49 pm 6
Tch. Angels unionizing is why they got cast down in the first place. Lucifer was a union organizer.
Fnord Feb 15th 2010 at 06:07 pm 7
Harp to the face!
**BWANG**
mister obvious Feb 15th 2010 at 06:44 pm 8
I’d envision it being a take-off of outsourcing. That is the PHB can get the harp… eventually. He’ll need to jump through any number of hoops and be placed on hold with muzak for extended periods of time. When he gets the harp it’ll be broken and he’ll need to contact customer support. Etc.
paperboy Feb 15th 2010 at 07:41 pm 9
It’s not tuned.
Mark in Boston Feb 15th 2010 at 10:35 pm 10
Salvador Dali made a harp for Harpo Marx. It had barbed-wire strings. Maybe this harp is similar.
Steffen Feb 16th 2010 at 12:23 am 11
Well, at first I read it as a tame, somewhat funny joke.
But then the “this should be an arlo” comment got me laughing loudly.
mkilby Feb 16th 2010 at 01:55 am 12
I like the way Adams sliced and diced the names to get “Helven“. Does anyone know whether the clerk’s name (Raj) is also supposed to be funny? I think the line “My name is Raj” could have been skipped entirely (unless, of course, he’s setting up the name for use in a later strip).
mike Feb 16th 2010 at 02:13 am 13
I think “my name is Raj” is meant to be a reference to the way so much support desk work is outsourced to India. though generally the guy on the other end of the line whose name is Raj would tell you his name is Jim or Bill.
Sam Feb 16th 2010 at 07:35 am 14
For some strange and possibly perverted reason all I could think of was “rectally?” Hmm I may have to take a closer look at my life.
mkilby Feb 16th 2010 at 09:01 am 15
Oh Sam (14), why did you have to type it openly? Everyone else who has seen this cartoon has been thinking of exactly that (or a close synonym starting with “a”), but we were hoping that nobody would actually spill the beans.
Minor Annoyance Feb 16th 2010 at 04:16 pm 16
I’m curious about whether he intends to cultivate this. Adams already gave us Phil, Prince of Insufficient Light, who persecutes mortals whose offenses fall a bit short of sin (typical punishment: you must sit in the receptionist’s chair while coworkers walk by and make lame jokes). I’d guess Helven is where they send sinners with good lawyers and/or rationalizations.
David N Feb 17th 2010 at 02:06 am 17
Maybe it’s where they put people with good intentions. The Devil was up to “here” with them.
“I hear tell, the road to Helven, is paved with good intentions …” - it could work.
zbicyclist Feb 17th 2010 at 09:37 am 18
Since we just set up a joint operating agreement in some areas with our major competitor, I can SO relate to this. We both agree we’ve made a pact with the devil; our competitor and ourselves just disagree on which of us is the devil.