The Slice: Do you hear what I hear?

Catherine Caskey titled her email to The Slice “From the hearing impaired couple.”

Here it is.

“In church Sunday I commented to my husband, ‘I’ll bet it’s cold up in the carillon area.’ He responded with ‘Well, of course, it’s cold in Korea!’

“Later he asked me ‘Have you seen Justin?’ My reply was ‘Jessica who?’ ”

And so it goes.

The couple priced hearing aids but eventually decided they could save money by simply continuing to say “Huh?”

I wonder how many Slice readers spend a lot of time saying that, or “What?”

If you factor in the aging demographics of readers of the print newspaper and Spokane’s famed frugality, it might be more than a few.

Many years ago, I had a few conversations with someone in Spokane broadcasting about hosting a radio show. Those talks went nowhere. But it did allow one wise-guy observer to speculate that my potential radio audience would skew “older” and that most of my listeners would constantly be saying “What? What’d he say?”

Let’s move on.

In the matter of camping smells: Bruce Werner shared this.

“I had an anthropology professor say that human body odor may once have helped humans survive as carnivores found it distasteful. I think some people are still watching out for carnivores.”

That would explain a lot. What you may have attributed to inadequate attention to personal hygiene might simply be a survival strategy.

I mean, think about it. Have you ever seen wolves take down some stinky guy in a grocery store aisle? Ever seen a grizzly chomp onto a smelly shopper in an appliance store? Ever seen a mountain lion maul a pedestrian with BO?

No, you haven’t. Coincidence? Maybe. But really, who’s to say?

And I’m not just pointing fingers here. I’ve always thought the timing of my bike ride to work during the coolest part of the day and the fact it’s all downhill in the morning kept me from arriving at the Review Tower with a “just exercised” aroma. But maybe I’m wrong.

I’ve seen raccoons, deer, coyotes and many other animals on my ride to work. But never any apex predators. Could it be they are profoundly turned off by my scent?

Maybe I’m the last to know. Oh well, if it has kept me from being attacked I suppose that’s a silver lining of sorts.

Something to think about.

Today’s Slice question: In the Spokane area, what’s the surest sign of spring fever?

Write The Slice at P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210; call (509) 459-5470; email pault@spokesman.com. If animals did Bloomsday, what species would win the race?