The Wednesday Slice
Maybe you know the individual who is the answer to this question.
Who around here is the oldest person to have ever called "shotgun" as several people approached a vehicle they were about to enter?
Time management:There's something to be said for waiting until the second day of a new month before flipping the page on a wall calendar. It doesn't really slow down the clock. And as a metaphor for calming the pace of your life, it's pretty weak. But it does allow you to enjoy the previous month's photo a little longer.
Following up on an item in Monday's Slice about defying Spokane stereotypes: "I also do not wear tennis shoes every day with everything," wrote George Bick. "I wear hiking boots every day with everything. I wear the newest and cleanest pair for dress occasions, and the other pair for everyday."
The sale was news to mom: When Kate Nelson was young, her older brothers found a "For sale" sign. They thought it would be funny to place it in front of their family's home one night.
The next morning, Nelson's mother started getting calls from curious neighbors. Of course, she had no idea what they were talking about at first.
Just wondering: If asked to do so, could you produce an authoritative list of the Inland Northwest's Top 10 most popular campgrounds among area residents with extensive criminal records?
Colville's Wallace Foster takes a dim view of...: "Those who wear their baseball caps (greasy or otherwise unsightly) firmly planted on their noggins in restaurants and theaters."
I know. That's only about the zillionth time The Slice has trotted out a reader's disdain for that practice. But I can't help it. When it comes to observing ballcap transgressions, we live in a target-rich environment.
This date in Slice history (1995): Today's Slice question: Is it all-you-can-eat night every night at your house?
Coming Thursday: The Slice will address -- in print and on the blog -- the issue of whether there was class tension in the ranks of military brats. You know, children of officers vs. children of enlisted personnel.
One caller who left a message but not his name insinuated that there was something about my own attitude to be inferred from the fact that in Monday's posing of the question I used the word "children" to describe officers' offspring and "kids" to describe sons and daughters of non-officer members of the military.
Hmmm. That sounds nuts, of course. But sometimes we are not aware of our own biases. So I checked with the SR's electronic archives. It doesn't go all the way back to The Slice's early days. But since it has been up and running, it appears that I have used the word "kids" in 1,963 columns, and "children" in 1,293 columns.
So if I mean for the former to be disparaging, I'm doing a poor job of making my intentions clear.
Warm-up question: What would you say to someone who suggested that not having an unrelated best friend brands a person a loser?
Today's Slice question: This is spun from something Slice reader Eric Rieckers mentioned in discussing tactics he threatened to employ if some neighbors he likes went ahead with plans to try to sell their house and move.
Would you consider buying a house next door to someone who flies a Confederate flag?
Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Your feelings about a neighbor don't always match your feelings about your neighbor's wind chimes.
