The Slice: The good, the bad and the ugly

You know you have watched way too many old Westerns (or that your sense of humor could use a bit of consciousness raising) when …

You get lost while driving on the back roads and duck into a store just outside an Indian reservation. The perfectly friendly Native guy you speak to inside politely provides corrective directions. You thank him.

But when you get back to the car, it crosses your mind to say, “It could be a trap.”

Just wondering: In what Spokane area medical waiting room are you most likely to overhear conversations that emphatically remind you of the need to start taking care of yourself before you get much older?

Half a dozen reasons it is harder to walk into a room and come up with smart-alecky remarks about what someone is looking at on a computer than it is to do so when someone is watching TV: 1. Computer screen is smaller and it’s harder to make out what’s being viewed.

2. Often there is no sound to provide content-clues such as a theme song or an actor’s familiar voice.

3. For some mysterious reason, the person using the computer is all hunched over and obscuring your view of what’s on the monitor.

4. The universe of online possibilities is many times larger than even the most comprehensive array of cable channels.

5. If someone is using a hand-held device, it’s difficult to visually eavesdrop.

6. Sometimes computer-users have headphones on and the casual nature of your witticism would be lost if you had to shout to be heard.

Thanks: To everyone who was nice to my Spokane-loving sister-in-law from Michigan while she was visiting.

Warm-up question: What did you learn on road trips this summer about differing gender perspectives re: what constitutes an acceptable restroom?

Today’s Slice question: How much do you worry about your vehicle being broken into when parking at a trailhead?