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The Slice: A lovin’ spoonful of PB
When Sarah Jensen’s daughter Betsy was little, she once asked for a peanut butter sandwich without the jelly and bread.
She wanted it on a spoon.
Slice answers: I had asked who around here screams the loudest upon being surprised by a spider.
“I would have to nominate Alex Renner for the most vocal and animated person I know of when it comes to being scared of spiders,” wrote Bob Fisher, a friend and fellow cyclist. “He’s been known to yelp like a little kid and almost fall off his bike if a spider surprises him. To hear him tell stories of him versus spiders is a side-hurting experience in laughter. He makes no bones or apologies about it. It’s just the way it is.
“What makes this even stranger though is that Alex is a big strong man. He used to be an expert karate fighter and did two tours of duty in Vietnam as a front-line Marine.
“He can beat me nine out of 10 times when we sprint for the line in our bicycle training and races. Yet a little spider makes him yelp like a little boy.
“When several of us are together and a spider invades his world we all get quite a laugh. Though I find it hard to make too much fun of him since, after all, he saw more horror than I will ever see during his tours in Vietnam.
“I just quietly go over and dispatch the spider for him. He says thanks, and I say ‘No problem, Alex, thank you for what you’ve done.’ ”
Here’s another nomination.
“That would have to be Vicki McCracken,” wrote Jean Grammer. “I was watching her house while she was out of town and, as a practical joke, placed some rubber spiders in her kitchen.
“Upon arriving home late in the evening, all was fine until she opened the microwave to find the largest spider. Apparently, her backyard neighbors heard the scream and called the police.”
Today’s Slice question: When helping a family member pack up for a move (and make some hard decisions about what to toss), how do you avoid being repeatedly stalled out by the fact that you have an emotional connection to virtually everything you see?