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The Slice: Beloved cut-off jeans wore and traveled well

Let’s start with an answer to a Slice question.

“Lucky piece of clothing?” wrote Roger Stephens, of Spokane. “I’ll report, you decide.”

Here’s his story.

“In 1962, I was stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina. My buddies and I were headed to the beach. I had no shorts to wear, so I purchased a brand new pair of Levi jeans and cut the legs off — much to the surprise of my friends.

“I wore them for the two years I was stationed in Charleston and, in 1964, I and my cut-offs transferred to Hickam AFB, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, I was sent on temporary duty to Okinawa. Of course, my trusty cut-offs went with me but they didn’t return. I’d left my now beloved cut-offs in Okinawa and sadly believed they were lost forever.

“In the winter of 1965, I was sent to San Francisco for training. An airman I’d met in Okinawa was there, too. We were going to the gym to play some pick-up basketball, but of course I had no shorts to wear. Not to worry, he said. ‘I have a pair of cut-offs.’ Yep, my jeans.”

“After college, marriage, our first child and the beginning of my teaching career in East Wenatchee, I still wore my ‘lucky’ cut-offs — much to my wife’s embarrassment. She believed too much of me was exposed through the now worn-out jeans than polite society allowed. In 1972, she threw them out when I wasn’t looking.”

He’s not over it yet. They might not have been literally lucky. “But they were sure special.”

Stage fright: “I judge Prepared Speech at the Washington State FFA convention at WSU each spring,” wrote Patsy Wood. “A couple of years ago, a young man came into the room to give his speech. He was stressing. He started the speech, almost started hyperventilating and finally said he could not go on. I felt so very sorry for him. We are given copies of each speech so I knew what he was speaking about. I started asking him questions. Others in the room did the same and it relaxed him. He was able to answer the questions and get out of the room without fainting.”

Today’s Slice question: Do you drive like one of your parents?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. What do you listen to while exercising? “The creaking and popping of joints,” said Gary Polser.

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