The Slice: Monikers of our youth can weigh us down in adulthood

Lily Sorenson’s cousin Rae was nicknamed Chubby as a toddler.

She grew up to be tall and slender, but that family nickname followed her into adulthood. Of course, Rae’s colleagues at the bank did not know about it. Well, until an uncle saw her there and called out a greeting from a distance.

“Hello, Chubby!”

Reader challenge: Remember the historically laughable Errol Flynn movie “They Died With Their Boots On”?

Sure. Well, your task is to change one word in that title and convert it from a Custer saga fantasy to the story of Spokane residents coping with slush.

“They (    ) With Their Boots On.”

New rules for baseball: Rodney Johnson would do away with relief pitchers being allowed still more warm-up throws after they get to the mound. Discontinuing that would speed up the game, he said.

“Once a batter steps into the batter’s box, he can’t step out,” wrote Lawrence Killingsworth. “Get on with it, forgoodnesssakes!”

And Pat Cadagan thinks the lead-off batter each inning should be able to determine the direction of travel around the bases (traditional or clockwise).

If you moved away: How would people in your new city respond when you said you had come from Spokane?

I asked Anne Montgomery. She and her husband moved to Indian Wells, Calif., last fall to accept new jobs

“Most people comment that Spokane is a nice place to be from,” she said.

Make of that what you will.

Lori Trowbridge now lives near San Luis Obispo, Calif. When she mentions being from Spokane, Washington? “People invariably say ‘Oh, where it rains all the time.’”

Slice answer: “I asked my wife when she knew we were meant for each other,” wrote Silas Bates. “She said she was still thinking about it.”

They celebrated their 56th anniversary last month.

Today’s Slice question: What would people say if you made the claim that your pet is the “best doggone dog in the West”?