Spokane7
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May 29, 2010 in Features
The Slice: Pigging out and shooting jumpers just doesn’t cut it for some in the area
The Slice asked readers who seldom come to Spokane to explain why they don’t visit the Lilac City more often.
“For me, it’s the drive that kills,” wrote a mother of two young children who teaches at Washington State University in Pullman. “Three hours is just a whopping amount of time, and there are days when I don’t have time to go to the bathroom.”
The mayor of Metaline Falls said she tries to avoid buying anything in “the big city” that she can get closer to home.
I had offered a few possible explanations for a stay-away policy. And several readers on both sides of the state line seized on the notion that Spokane is home to a lot of hostile and scary people.
One North Idaho respondent added, “I have lived in lots of places, including Sydney, Australia, and I have never seen such a vitriolic collection of letters to the editor as The Spokesman-Review seems to receive.”
A reader who listed a 509 area code said, “People get shot around there.”
Well, not all the time. But point taken.
Others said they don’t enjoy driving in Spokane, hate paying for parking and find the city’s signature cultural events easy to resist.
“You can only see so much of people ‘pigging out,’ running or playing basketball,” wrote one woman.
Then there’s the possibility that Spokane in general simply isn’t the powerful magnet some assume it is.
“No offense,” wrote another reader. “But I live in a town that doesn’t have a street light and I like it that way.”
None taken.
Just wondering: I have a friend whose teenage son is signed up for film camp and golf camp this summer. That sounds a bit incongruous. But there’s no reason a person can’t have varied interests.
Anyway, I’m curious. What local youth will be attending the most intriguing mix of themed summer camps?
Today’s Slice question: When you have houseguests who lived in this area years ago, what changes do they notice?
Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; fax (509) 459-5098; e-mail pault@spokesman.com. If I have said something that annoyed you, there’s a good chance it was intentional.
The Slice: Salvage a thumbs-up, please 
liarsinnews on May 29 at 10:07 a.m.
I wonder how many beer gardens will be operated at pig out this year, Too many drunks stumbling around last year.