The Slice: Urban/rural argument is fair game

So I was flipping channels and came across a local TV news report on an allegedly illegal taxidermy operation.

It was a serious story. You aren’t supposed to kill protected species, and you aren’t allowed to stuff their remains, either. The reporter was an experienced guy who has always struck me as trustworthy.

His story was fine. But he said something that made me wonder.

Just as an aside, he suggested that it’s not unusual for people around here to supplement their groceries with game.

Say what?

OK, he didn’t say everyone did. And he wasn’t putting anyone down. Clearly though, he presented that as if it were a mainstream food option in our area.

Perhaps it is. Maybe I need to spend more time with Rich Landers.

But it’s hard for me to believe that all that many Spokane area residents regularly eat animals that they killed themselves. Sure, I know there are a fair number of deer hunters hereabouts. Still.

This reminded me of what I regard as Spokane’s fundamental self-identity confusion: Is this place urban or rural?

Obviously, we’re a bit of both.

When people who live here make assumptions about this region, they naturally tend to reflect their own daily lives and activities. That’s how some end up embracing the myth that everyone in this economically challenged area has a lake place.

Or that it’s common to dine on game.

Maybe we need to look at the big picture, at reality.

Now let me make one thing clear. I’m not knocking pickup trucks, gun racks and what have you. That’s not what this is about.

What I am saying is this: We sometimes act like the traditional trappings of a backcountry lifestyle are nearly universal in the Inland Northwest, and they’re not.

Partly because of our geographic good fortune, we probably do more camping and hiking than people in lots of places. Maybe we even eat slightly more venison. I honestly don’t know.

I’m just suggesting that the vast majority of those here lead lives that are not radically different from the lives of people in Omaha or Grand Rapids. We go to work. We watch TV and surf the Net. We wonder if the roof needs replacing.

And some of us hunt. But let’s face it. We’re a few generations removed from being frontiersmen.

Anyone who looked at national voting patterns after the presidential election knows that the city/country mindset-divide is real and quite pronounced.

Most places, though, at least know which they are.

•Today’s Slice question: Could your holiday lights be seen from the International Space Station?