The Slice: It gave a new meaning to sheltered lives

Sure, these are stressful times and it’s a dangerous world.

But anyone who grew up with a backyard bomb shelter might suggest that anxiety about global tensions isn’t exactly new.

Let’s move on.

State your case: Theresa Vance was listening to a Spokane Public Radio announcer run down the locations and frequencies of regional translator stations. At one point, he punctuated his list by saying “And in Washington state …”

That struck Vance as nuts. “We can’t just be Washington?” she wrote.

She is aware that people elsewhere routinely add “state” even in contexts where the possibility of confusion with the District of Columbia is nonexistent. But hearing one of our own voluntarily take part in that insanity bugged her.

“Like KPBX would be heard over a station on FM radio in D.C.? Hello!”

Reports of the demise of “Howdy” are premature: “I must say ‘Howdy’ to people several times a day,” said Lacy Hert, an administrative assistant at an accounting firm.

She believes it has a bit more charm than “Hi’ or “Hey.”

And when you walk into Jim and Lynette Bailey’s home, one of the first things you see is an artistic “HOWDY” on the wall. Made of wrought iron, the spelled-out greeting was a gift from friends who live in Great Falls.

Slice quiz: I’ll send a coveted reporter’s notebook to at least one reader who can identify the onetime Spokane TV news anchor who later appeared on the cover of People magazine in connection with a story about having been sexually assaulted in Georgia.

For the record: That question about the local grandchild in the greatest danger of being spoiled rotten was asked in a lighthearted way.

KiKi Welfel in Colville understood. She hinted at all the attention, treats and entertainment options she intended to lavish on granddaughter Sophie.

Several others interpreted that question as an invitation to bash the parenting styles of their daughters-in-law.

Today’s Slice question: When talking to young people, do you characterize your career path as a model or as a warning?