The Slice: Today’s story of getting hit with a golf ball

There are lots of people who would know more about this.

But I wonder. Do most Spokane birds avoid downtown because the resident sparrows are considered undesirable or even dangerous?

Let’s move on.

Today’s story of getting hit with a golf ball: “In 2001 I was very new to the game of golf but my friend talked me into joining a ladies’ nine-hole group,” wrote Mary Riddle. “One afternoon four of us were getting ready to tee off when we heard a man on the other fairway call ‘Fore!’ Being so new, I stood there and looked around and then before I knew it, I was on the ground. His ball had hit me in the forehead.”

There was much commotion and much bleeding. Mary was taken to the hospital.

“My friend called to tell my husband what had happened and his response was, ‘Was she having a good game?’ Ouch!”

Mary eventually found the courage to play again. But next time she heard “Fore!” the instinct for self-preservation took over.

She instantly took cover by jumping behind the woman with whom she was playing.

“To this day when my daughter looks at the dent in my forehead she swears she can make out the word Titleist. I say the scar looks more like a star.”

You can lead a marmot to an engine block but… : Janet Yoder shared something she saw recently in a Montana newspaper’s police log.

Here’s the item. “A person who had tried several methods to get marmots out of a vehicle said those methods did not work and the person needed help.”

I’m sure the local constabulary resolved the situation peacefully. But I wonder if they tried any of these techniques.

1. Pretend to be a bartender at closing time. 2. Strongly worded eviction notice. 3. Lure them out with a nice tossed salad. 4. Drive them out with disco music. 5. Get the marmots bus passes.

This date in Slice history (1997): Give it to her straight: Judy Layton told us about a 6-year-old girl who was informed that an older woman the child knew had gone to heaven. The little girl thought about it for a moment. Then she said, “You didn’t need to say she went to heaven. All you had to say was she passed out.”

Today’s Slice question: Are you satisfied with the way your profession deals with those whose ethical lapses are widely known and persistent?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. Were you surprised to see what birds near your home used as nesting material?