The Slice: Let’s hope he’s done growing

A second-grader at South Pines Elementary in Spokane Valley told his teacher last week that he loves horses and wants to be a yonkie when he grows up.

His teacher is pretty sure he meant to say “jockey.”

Feedback: Sandy Tarbox correctly noted that The Slice’s recent sweatshirts vs. sweaters discussion omitted a classic Northwest option: “Flannel shirts.”

Just wondering: Should writers of letters to the editor or online comment posters be required to tack on a clarifying “Here’s really why I’m mad.”

You know. “My brother is a police officer.”

Or, “The candidate I am criticizing threatens me because he is educated and well-informed and he makes me feel like the moron I am.”

Or, “My whole take on this particular matter of public policy is, of course, a thinly veiled not-in-my-backyard rant.”

Or, “The agency I am bashing once declined to hire me.”

He’s not heavy, he’s my backpack: Spokane high school student Hope Gimbel is not physically large.

“She is all of 5’1”, wears a size 2, and does not even weigh enough to donate blood,” said her mother, Julie.

But Hope’s stuffed backpack is another story. It is substantial.

Just recently, she opened a car door and placed it on one of the seats. Its weight was enough to activate the dashboard “Fasten Seatbelts” indicator.

Mixed feelings: A friend circled a crowded parking lot last weekend.

He spotted a woman getting into her car. So he stopped and waited for her to back out. But the woman proceeded to pull out her phone and make a call. She was staying put for the time being.

Which put my friend in an unusual situation. Sure, he coveted the parking space. But do you really want to be thinking, “Hey, take that phone conversation out onto the road where it belongs.”

Warm-up question: Who has set foot in the greatest number of Inland Northwest churches?

Today’s Slice question: What movie title best sums up your adventures dealing with recent road construction in downtown Spokane?