The Slice New York Must Be Farther Away Than Austria
One feature of living in the Inland Northwest is that you get to conduct a lot of geography classes.
At least when you’re dealing with Americans.
“I’m a German author living in Coeur d’Alene (married to an American),” began a fax we received a few days ago. “Recently, I exchanged e-mail with a guy in New York. When I mentioned that I live in North Idaho, I got the following immediate response: ‘Where is Idaho??? Do people live there???!’
“Several days later I got a call from my publishing house in Vienna, Austria. I told the editor that I have moved from Colorado to Idaho. ‘Idaho?’ she said. ‘Isn’t that this nice state in the Northwest with all the forest and lakes?”’
How to be both indecisive and annoying: Hold up the order at a business meal because you can’t decide. According to a business etiquette specialist quoted by the Knight-Ridder news service, that’s the biggest no-no when it comes to work-related dining.
We would have guessed that talking about seasonal dry skin would be No. 1, but that just goes to show how much we know.
No, it wasn’t packages from his grandparents or anything like that: Jason Randall Greene, who will turn 4 later this month, was looking out the window at nothing in particular when he announced, “Hey, Mommy, I think I see my birthday coming.”
Slice answer: After we asked what program proves idealism is alive, we heard an endorsement of the Care Cars project. Part of Spokane Mental Health’s Elder Services division, Care Cars involves volunteer drivers helping elderly people make it to appointments, et cetera. Call 458-7450 to find out more.
Warm-up question from Joyce Roskelley: “Do any other baby boomers remember when the Native American people would come to town on Saturday and the ladies would stand in front of Kress in very brightly colored native dress?”
Today’s Slice question: What’s the Spokane area’s favorite excuse?
, DataTimes MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098.