The Slice: On today’s menu: Embarrassment

Liz Schatz used to be a customer of a service that delivered food items to her door.

The driver kept a flier listing weekly specials in a side pocket of his cargo pants.

“One day the driver showed up at my door and I had not thought about what I would like to order that day,” said Schatz.

So, without intending to be inappropriate or trying to be funny, she asked a question.

“What do you have in your pants?”

After a second, they both laughed.

Several months later that driver was training a new man. And as Schatz opened her door she heard the experienced driver say, “This is that lady I was telling you about.”

“A moveable feast: Conversations with readers about whether they actually eat dinner at the dining room table revealed that there are three factors working against it.

1. In lots of families, people don’t eat at the same time. A person eating alone is less apt to sit at the table, some said.

2. Many people like to eat dinner in front of a TV. Often, that rules out the dining room.

3. Some people seldom prepare and consume formal meals, preferring instead to graze throughout the day.

All that notwithstanding, I did speak with several readers who described a dinner-in the-dining-room family ritual that is a highlight of the day.

“A product named Spokane: Doug Durham suggested it could be an “affordable” bicycle designed for both road and mountain biking. “Comes with an extra, studded tire.”

Peter Lucht said “Spokane” could be the name of a business-oriented motivational program.

Terry Jo Sather proposed a bottled-water line featuring nontoxic bottles adorned with iconic Lilac City scenes.

And several readers suggested that the “Spokane” could be a big honking pickup truck. “Guaranteed to get no more than nine miles per gallon so that no one can complain about fuel prices more loudly than its owner,” wrote a reader named Jim.

I’m still accepting submissions.

“In the matter of appearing to be driving drunk because of the state of the roads: Sharon Enterline saw the reader’s question about dodging potholes. Her experience was a little different.

“I was pulled over several years ago by the Idaho State Patrol just outside Coeur d’Alene (while heading back to Spokane) for wobbling around in the highway ruts,” she wrote.

“Calling for a truce: South Hill resident Dick Moss wonders if, instead of wrangling over Inland Northwest vs. Inland Empire, we might agree on Northwest Inland Empire.

That’s not bad, though some might interpret it as a reference to the Okanogan area.

“Today’s Slice question: What rendered you speechless?