The Slice: 800 number offered more than expected

Julie Gray was trying to reach her medical insurance company.

But instead of dialing 1 (888) at the start of the phone number, she mistakenly punched in 1 (800).

When her call connected, a recording came on.

“Welcome to America’s hottest talk line!”

A recorded woman’s voice eagerly offered directions about speaking to hot sexy guys, hot sexy girls and what have you.

Gray figured out pretty quickly that she had called the wrong number. So she didn’t stay on long enough to find out if this outfit also offered callers hot deals on medical insurance.

Deciphering kidspeak: One night, when Patricia Bart’s daughter Meghan was about 6, the girl was having trouble going to sleep. So she asked her father to shut her bedroom door because it was “a bottle.”

“My husband assumed she meant that the door was ajar. So, in our home, when a door is left open we’ll say, ‘Please shut the door, it’s a bottle.’”

One more.

“When my daughter was 2 to 3 years old, she was apparently obsessed with radios, because the ‘ray’ sound in many words became ‘radio,’ ” wrote Mike O’Neal. “Thus, going down stairs, one grasped the ‘handradio.’ Food was kept in the ‘refridgeradio.’”

Crying at work: “I am a retired teacher now,” wrote Sally Bean. “I cried when reading ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’ to my fifth-grade class at Hutton Elementary. It turned out to be a good lesson in emotions, sensitivity and that their teacher was human as well.”

Real romance in action: “Getting joy out of doing something simply because you know your loved one will like the result,” wrote James McPherson.

“Truly listen,” said Sue Hicks.

Warm-up question: Are there better views of downtown Spokane than the ones at the Winston & Cashatt law offices?

Today’s Slice question: Is there a recent trend of people offering too much graphic detail about a recent illness or have those recovering from some minor but purgative ailment always done that?