The Slice: Night train proves no match for protective rooster

David Cox lives on the southern side of Pleasant Prairie with a large flock of free range chickens.

“At 11 o’clock the other night, as I was sitting on my porch partaking of my rum ration (retired Navy), I heard a train passing below through the Valley.”

He was not the only one who noticed. “My rooster took the whistling train as a direct threat to his hens and would crow at each whistle blast.”

The bird stood his ground and the train went away.

But Cox worries the railroad is keeping his rooster up past its bedtime and that this cannot be good for egg production.

He’s the man: When last we checked in on the misadventures of “Spokane man” back in February, it had been eight years since our previous report on his activities. Let’s not wait that long this time.

Here is some of what Spokane man has been up to recently, according to the 2015 archives of The Spokesman-Review.

Well, this summer we read that he “has moved to a higher plane of athletic fitness.”

You go, Spokane man!

But then, wouldn’t you know it, he was “found with a stolen puppy.”

Darn it all. C’mon, S-man. That’s not nearly perfect.

Then there was that whole matter where he apparently “assaulted a woman with a hatchet.”

I begged him to get some counseling.

You have to hand it to our boy though. He’s still “trying to get a project off the ground.”

Sounds like Spokane, doesn’t it?

Keep plugging, Mr. S.

Slice answers: The Labor Day question about why poorly compensated workers often express hostility toward labor unions netted a predictably polarized batch of answers.

But I must say, responding readers were mostly civil. Answers ranged from concerns that union membership meant a “loss of freedom” and surrendering political independence to, on the other end of the opinion spectrum, “low self-esteem” that makes some believe they do not really deserve better wages and working conditions.

Today’s Slice question: Do you judge people on the basis of how you feel about their collections?