The Slice Now Here’s A Slippery Topic

We can’t prove it. But we’re pretty sure that no one in the history of Spokane driving has ever slowed down because of rain-slickened streets.

Name game: B.J. Pickel has been called “dill pickle,” “sweet pickle,” “diced pickle” “sliced pickle,” “garlic pickle,” and “pickled pickle,” among other things. On the plus side, everyone remembers her name.

Rebecca Zakrzewski rates Spokane as “pretty good” in terms of how people deal with her last name. “The most I hear about it is ‘I’m glad YOU can pronounce it.’ “

But a fellow whose name is terpsichore (turp-sik-oh-ree) is less sanguine. “Try having a single name in a town like Spokane,” he said. “It’s nearly impossible.”

A headline that said it all: “Top Executives Ponder High Pay, Decide They’re Worth Every Cent” - The Wall Street Journal

True story: We had a dream in which someone got up at a City Council meeting and said “We built this city on rock and roll.”

Must have been the salsa.

Just wondering: At your workplace, does management consider employees valuable only after they’ve gotten job offers from other companies?

Slice answer: Our friend Jim isn’t alone in his struggle to get fast-food places to give him seedless buns. We heard from several readers who suffer from diverticulitis and have been advised to avoid sesame seeds. “It isn’t trivial,” wrote one, who said more than a few Spokane area restaurants just don’t get it.

Another reader suggested a tactic Jim had already rejected. That is, asking for “two bottoms.”

When in Rome: Watch out for the pickpocket team that uses a woman breast-feeding a baby as a diversion. - Richard Semple Jr.

Wrong number: John Sherwood of Post Falls got a call at 2 a.m. from a guy trying to reach a woman named Theresa. Sherwood informed the caller that he had the wrong number. And the caller acknowledged that, yes, you can’t always count on the accuracy of things written on a restroom wall at a truck stop.

Warm-up question: What’re the 50 most annoying habits of sports fans?

Today’s Slice question: What percentage of local teenagers can’t wait to get out of here?

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Drawing of a pickle

MEMO: The Slice appears Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098.