Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

The Slice: He sees Final Four on horizon

I guess we can tell what was on her mind.

Those familiar with various kinds of eye procedures might have heard of YAG (yttrium-aluminum-garnet) laser surgery

Joe Kramarz had this operation. And his wife, Becky, was telling someone about his experience.

She started, “Joe had the ZAG surgery.”

Brushes with fame/gratuities: The Slice’s mention of tipping reminded Pat Cadagan of his stint in the 1960s as head bellman at the new Holiday Inn West at the top of the Sunset Hill. (Now part of a different chain.)

Trumpeter Al Hirt gave him a $50 bill and asked him to run downtown and get a bottle of scotch. Pinch was the brand he wanted. When Cadagan returned with the booze, the musician told him to keep the change. Cadagan reported that the bottle cost only $9, and Hirt repeated his instruction to keep the change.

Jayne Mansfield, often described as a blond bombshell, was a different story. In town to do a play, she ate meals in her room. “No matter what she ordered for lunches or dinners the tip was always 50 cents. Very tight. But for a single guy in this 20s then, bragging rights at the Park Inn tavern every night made up a little for her cheapness.”

Fore!: An errant drive by one of his golf partners hit Mike Carlson in the chest. It caused an unsightly bruise and hurt for about three weeks.

But Carlson didn’t hold it against the guy who had hideously shanked his tee shot. The next day, Carlson got his hands on some body armor and a camouflaged combat helmet. He put those on and took a picture of himself. Then he sent the photo to his friend, saying he was ready for another round.

This would get your attention: When Denise James was 14 or 15, she was brushing her teeth when she saw “the black beady eyes of a tiny gopher snake on its way up out of the sink drain.”

If you were alive at the time and lived in North America, you probably heard Denise scream.

Today’s Slice question: Did you have your own suitcase when you were a little kid?

Write The Slice at P. O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; cal (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Just for the record, not all S-R subscribers are as tickled with their delivery experience as the reader I quoted Saturday.

More from this author