The Slice: After all, this one’s a Spokane creation

With this year’s observance being the centennial celebration, it’s not too early to start thinking about Father’s Day.

Just 163 shopping days left.

First date follies: Back in 1969, Chuck Ellis went out with Linda Hepfler for the first time. They had made plans to check out the Lilac Parade.

She came to meet him at the grocery store where he worked part-time. That’s where they had become acquainted.

As they walked to his car, Chuck told Linda his last name. “She stopped and looked at me and said, ‘Your wife’s name is Alice?’ ”

Chuck, whose day job was in the Air Force, suspected that his Southern accent might have thrown her. So he took another run at it.

Anyway, the date went well. And after 40 years of marriage, Chuck is happy to report that his wife’s name is Linda.

Etiquette and the blame game: Like any preschooler, Tambra Ostrander’s 3-year-old son, Coda, occasionally burps or makes other socially questionable noises. But at least this kid has the manners to express regret.

“Cuse me,” he says.

If his mother doesn’t then deliver her follow-up line fast enough, he prompts her: “Mom! Say, ‘You’re accused.’ ”

Family phrases: Back when Patty Ambacher’s son, Ethan, was 5, he was told some black-and-white bovines were “dairy cows.”

A bit later, the boy saw a few pinto ponies and pronounced them “dairy horses.”

When in the car, one of Mike McKeehan’s sons used to caution his dad about not going over the “speed lemon.”

And because of a slip of the tongue years ago, there’s a family that refers to spinach dip as “spinach bitch.”

Today’s Slice question: A quick survey of your household suggests what new Census category?

Stuffed animals? Public broadcasting pledge gifts? Vinyl LPs?